Nation celebrates the Fourth in many ways

BOSTON — Tracy Silva normally spends Sunday nights singing karaoke with friends, but this year, the mother of two was on the bill for a bigger show — Boston’s annual Fourth of July Pops concert and fireworks display.

“It’s just a dream,” Silva said a few hours before her nighttime performance in front of a crowd of thousands, which she earned by beating out 700 competitors in the Pops’ first talent competition.

In New York, relatives of some of the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks gathered to watch a 20-ton slab of New York state granite placed as the cornerstone of the skyscraper that will replace the destroyed World Trade Center towers.

At Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, Afghan leader Hamid Karzai was awarded the Philadelphia Liberty Medal, given each July 4 by the nonprofit, nonpolitical Philadelphia Foundation to recognize leadership in the pursuit of freedom. The medal’s $100,000 prize will go to support Afghan orphans, he said.

Torrential rain washed out the Independence Day parade in the nation’s capital Sunday, but fireworks on National Mall proceeded as planned under cloudy skies. President Bush planned to watch the display from a White House balcony.

Sometimes the holiday festivities produced the unexpected.

In Utah, two young bull moose, each more than 6-feet tall and weighing hundreds of pounds, crashed the Fourth of July parade in the mountains east of Salt Lake City, coming within a few feet of spectators.

“I told my family, that’s something you don’t see at the downtown parades,” Jeff Worthington said after Saturday’s celebration at Brighton.

Back in Boston, Silva sang her favorite song, “Your Daddy’s Son,” from the musical “Ragtime,” backed up by the Pops orchestra and conductor Keith Lockhart. Her performance received a standing ovation, and Lockhart gave her an onstage hug.

“The Fourth of July has special meaning in Boston,” Mayor Tom Menino said to the crowd gathered at City Hall for the city’s annual celebration. “Our country and everything we stand for started right here in these streets.”