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_/)CELEBRA TING TH E S T A TUEift-fiiwi(P hoenix/P earson Photo)- %u25a0(P hoenix/Pearson Photo)(Phoenix/Barter Photo)K v :; ; MMf t ' '!*|! *; iphotographing, the air of expectation heightened. At Bay Ridge%u2019s 69th Street pier, the crowd's expectations were so eager that it cheered Burger King%u2019s blimp as it flew overhead in the smoke-filled night. At the first burst of fireworks %u201cohs and ahs%u201d mounted in crescendo with each cannonade. Cartwheels, spokes and flowerettes in azure, gold aiKl flame expkxied floodlighting the Statue. Lady Liberty was transformed by her blue torso and crown, gold torch and red base to the eternal symbol that Bartholdi dreamed of.To eight-year-old Jared Brooks, a Korean child adopted by Brooklyn parents, %u201cit was just great.%u201d And 38-year-old Rob Stein, a Flatbush native, agreed. %u201cI especially love the coordination with the music,%u201d he said.As I listened, staring at the ne wly refurbished Statue emblazoned by the spectacle, surrounded by the green-litsuperstructure of the aircraft carrier, John F. Kennedy , %u201cThe Battle Hymn of the Republic%u201d filled the air.In my mind%u2019s eye I saw her 100 years ago, as a Civil War Veteran standing outside his house on Congress Street with his family, must have seen her. Through the rain, fog and mist, she loomed and reminded him of what liberty meant %u2014 liberty from the oppression of the English in his native Ireland and freedom from hunger. That veteran was my great-grandfather, William Whitmore.I remember another immigrant, one whom I grew up with, my Polish grandfather, Stanislaus Sass. Perhaps, the true meaning of America and liberty is summed up in what he told me as a child. %u201cAmerica is the greatest country, because here you don%u2019t have to be what your father was, you can be what you want.%u201dA Tour Guide Looking for LibertyBV MARGUERITE PROVENZANOIt seems just about everyone in New York spent the Fourth cf July weekend in some interesting way this year, whether it was escanine to air-conditioning and a television, fleeing the dty, or following the entire Harbor Festival agenda. I spent the weekend as a tour guide for Tom and Karen, friends from the south, %u201cthe good part%u201d of New Jersey, who braved riding between cars on New Jersey Transit in order to be in %u201cthe place\this year%u2019s liberty celebration. Not your typical tropical-shorts and camera tourists, they were anxious to see everything from a New Yorker%u2019s point of view.We exchanged Thursday night%u2019s big lignung tor sleep in order to gei an early suu i on Friday. Lucidly we had tickets to an allday luncheon on Wall Street which we used as a %u201chome base%u201d and food-source whilestrolling through the repetitious downtown streets of souvenirs, snacks and foam-spiked liberty crowns.After several hours of this, they weren%u2019t impressed by the party, so we returned to the hxidieon where we had the opportunity to speak with Miss Liberty, complete with a French accent, (although she appeared a bit dumbfounded when my sister tried to talk to her in real French). Oh well, what did we expect from someone who later would come out in an Uncle Sam costume and paint kids%u2019 faces?After we stuffed ourselves, we had to brave die crowds in order to meet another friend and her family, complete with an 87-yearw Ka inmc4