Interpretive volunteers from the Chesapeake Independent Blues (CIB) and the Fort McHenry Guard demonstrate the firing of reproduction muskets as part of the 2019 Christmas in St. Michaels celebration. “The traditions of celebrating Christmas, and the firing of guns, had been brought to the Americas by Swiss, Scandinavian and German-speaking immigrants during the 18th and 19th centuries,” said Mark Dubin, a founding member of the CIB. “It is probable that the militia of St. Michaels would have fired the town’s artillery for notable occasions, such as the Fourth of July, New Year’s Day and Christmas, beginning as early as 1814.”