NEW YORK, July 4 (Reuters) - Americans marched in star-spangled
parades, ran relay races, gathered for fireworks shows and crowned a
new world hot dog eating champion as they celebrated Independence Day
in traditional style on Saturday.
Possible
security threats, wildfires in the West and rainy weather on the East
Coast apparently did little to dampen the spirits of celebrants decked
out in red, white and blue from their headbands to their shoelaces.
Crowds
at Boston's Old State House erupted in applause and cannons shot out
tri-color confetti after the annual July Fourth reading of the
Declaration of Independence.
Meskie Hyman, 11,
exuded patriot pride in a star-spangled shirt and a hairband with two
American
flags that fluttered under cloudy skies in Maplewood, New
Jersey.
"I love that it's a free country and we
have the right to speak. It lets us see everyone's potential and find
our heroes," she said.
The crowd in Washington,
D.C. watched a parade of brass bands, law enforcement motorcycle units,
high school drum majorettes, antique cars and police and military
detachments.
The National Mall, an open area west
of the Capitol and site of a fireworks display expected to draw
hundreds of thousands, was soggy from steady rain that had stopped by
the time the parade started. Among them was Kearston Andrews, 26, who
had traveled with her family from near Gainesville, Florida, and said
security concerns had not affected them.
The
Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation
issued an alert this week asking local authorities and the public to
remain vigilant for possible threats following recent calls for
violence by leaders of radical Islamist group Islamic State.
In
New York City, the nation's biggest police force assigned about 7,000
officers and nearly all its counterterrorism personnel to handle
security around Independence Day events.
Even
after promising an increased presence at weekend events, Massachusetts
State Police maintained a holiday spirit, tweeting with a colloquial
Boston phrase early Saturday "Have a wicked safe 4th of July!"
In
a stunning upset on Coney Island, 23-year-old newcomer Matt Stonie
grabbed the famed mustard-colored champion's belt after gobbling 62 hot
dogs in 10 minutes in the annual Nathan's International Hot Dog Eating
Contest.
Stonie, of San Jose, California, ousted
long-time champion Joey "Jaws" Chestnut, who still holds a world
record of 69 franks eaten in 2013. Miki Sudo hung onto the women's
title, downing 38 hotdogs in 10 minutes.
WILDFIRES AND SHARKS
On
the U.S. West Coast, which is already battling wildfires, communities
in Washington state and Oregon restricted or banned fireworks for fear
of more blazes. Cupertino, California, and Anchorage, Alaska's largest
city, also canceled firework shows.
Nine people
suffered minor injuries at Avon, Colorado's "Salute to the USA"
fireworks show on Friday night after a malfunction sent some of the
spectacular explosives into the crowd rather than into the sky, town
manager Virginia Egger said in a statement.
Revelers
on the beaches of North Carolina were warned by the National Park
Service to use extra caution after seven shark attacks were recorded in
the state by midday Thursday, surpassing the previous high of four in
2014 according to the International Shark Attack File. That won't deter
some from the surf, said shark file curator George Burgess.
A
celebration in Austin, Texas featured country music legend Willie
Nelson at an all-day picnic replete with music and drinking. And in
Oklahoma, the record to beat at the "Watermelon Seed Spittin' World
Championship" in Pauls Valley, about 60 miles (100 km) southeast of
Oklahoma City, was 66 feet, 11 inches (20.41 meters), set in 1989 by
Jack Dietz of Chicago, organizers said.
Source: HuffPost
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