The streets were lined with people applauding last Sunday when Napa Valley's Hispanic community put on their fancy duds and paraded down Calistoga's Main Street. Handsome guys on handsome horses. Beautiful women in beautiful gowns. Mariachi bands. Dancing girls. Cowboys. Here are a few snapshots.

Thanks to the generosity of an Angwin couple, our volunteer ambulance crews have acquired a brand-new 4-wheel drive vehicle. It is the first such machine in the County. Built on a heavy-duty Ford 350 chassis, it will be able to traverse some of our rugged trails, to reach someone in trouble.

Half the total cost of $120,000 was contributed by Frank and Kathy Dotzler. The couple has lived in Angwin only three years, but they have embraced the spirit of community and wanted to share some of the success of their Outpost wines, produced up on Summit Lake Drive.

The new ambulance also features a rear-view camera to make backing-up safer, an on-board computer and printer, and LED lights that are brighter than the traditional halogen ones. Its suspension system automatically lowers the ambulance's rear end when the rear doors are opened, making it easier to load and unload patients. In snowy conditions, the drive can push a button in the cab and cause chains to lower under the tires.

The Angwin Ambulance Company is an independent organization operated entirely by volunteers, including president Noel Ojeda, a United Airlines pilot. There are 24 men and women in the company, including a couple of nurses and 10 PUC students. The company covers 250 square miles, a territory that stretches to the remote and rugged northeast corner of Napa County.

Crews are busiest on the weekends responding to calls at Lake Berryessa, where they reach boating, motorcycle and other recreational accidents.

The company recently received a $2,000 donation from the Howell Mountain Vintners Association. Noel appeals for more such gifts, absolutely necessary to keep the company alive. Please call him. He is in the Angwin Telephone Book. The company needs more volunteers, too. Some 280 calls a year places a real burden on the volunteers. Again, call Noel, if you can help in some way.