As if making up for lost time, Dana took to music and song as naturally as a bird, even spontaneously making up perfectly keyed vocal harmonies to complement songs she'd hear in the family car.

A student of dance since age 3, a member of Children's Musical Theater San Jose since age 8 and the recipient of vocal lessons since age 10, Dana made her solo public debut Sept. 3, when she sang the national anthem at Pacific Bell Park as the San Francisco Giants prepared to play the Colorado Rockies (which the home team won 4-2).

"By looking at her, you wouldn't think she was fazed by it. She was very mellow," Allison says, recalling Dana's trip to San Francisco; the excursion also included Dana's father, Ron, and her 17-year-old brother, Wes.

"I just put on my nervous smile when I went out there," Dana says of the experience of appearing before more than 30,000 spectators. "It's kind of like the ride 'Drop Zone' at Great America. You don't like the wait, but once it starts, you're fine. Then I didn't want it to end!"

Contributed photograph Saratoga 13-year-old Dana Tranchina was invited to sing the national anthem at a Giants game.

"Whenever I think of that song, I think of America, and now it makes me think of our latest tragedy," she says.

According to Allison, it was surprisingly easy to obtain a singing spot at the ballpark. They simply submitted a demo CD of Dana singing--made for them at a friend's recording studio—along with a headshot of Dana and some basic information. At first the Tranchinas didn't know when or if she would ever be invited to sing, due to this summer's threat of a major league baseball strike. Fortunately for the Tranchina family and thousands of fans like them, the strike did not occur.

This reminds Dana of an interesting coincidence that occurred only a week or two before she got the green light to perform at Pac Bell Park. When going through a closet at home, she says, she discovered a journal she had kept in the fourth grade. In one of the entries, she had written that one day she wanted to sing at a Giants baseball game.

Allison says that while her husband and son often worry about Dana when she's performing, Allison sees no need. "I'm so confident in her that I just sit back and enjoy it. Dana's never done anything to make me nervous about it," she says, smiling.

Whether singing anthems in a ballpark or musical numbers with Children's Musical Theater San Jose, Dana says, her favorite part of the experience is the same. "I really like the applause; it really makes me feel good," says Dana, who also belongs to the choir at Los Gatos Christian School, where she is an eighth-grader. When singing just for fun, she favors Broadway tunes, pop, rock and contemporary Christian music.

While her interests in singing and dancing keep her pretty busy, Dana says she also loves sports and plays on her school's softball, soccer and volleyball teams. In her future, however, she envisions herself in career that has little in common with any of these—she wants to be a veterinarian.