Serbians bring out the shot guns to blast away in honor of the birth of Christ during Christmas in Jackson, Calif.

A tradition brought from the old county, the firing of guns was a way for villagers in the old country to spread greetings from village to village before telephones and automobiles. Today, that tradition continues here in Jackson, California, home of the first Serbian Orthodox Church in the western hemisphere.

Though many who participate are...
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Serbians bring out the shot guns to blast away in honor of the birth of Christ during Christmas in Jackson, Calif.

A tradition brought from the old county, the firing of guns was a way for villagers in the old country to spread greetings from village to village before telephones and automobiles. Today, that tradition continues here in Jackson, California, home of the first Serbian Orthodox Church in the western hemisphere.

Though many who participate are "Serbian" for a day, most are descendants of the miners who came in the 1800s to find their fortune in the gold mines of the west. Their grand fathers and great grandfathers left the old country years before.
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