it's also one of the traditional elements that accompany and cheer up Christmas. Tuscany In Tuscany, especially in the Val di Chiana (province of Arezzo), it was customary to sing a prayer during the "cerimonia del ceppo" (log ceremony) Later, blindfolded children (later rewarded with sweets and other gifts), had to hit the log, while the rest of the family sang a particular song, called "Ave Maria del Ceppo". Lombardy In Lombardy, the head of the family used to sprinkle juniper on the log and place coins on it while reciting a prayer in the name of the Trinity. Then, wine was drunk at will and the remaining wine was thrown by the head of the family on the log; it was also customary, during the log ceremony, to cut three panettone and keep a piece for healing purposes for the whole following year. Montenegro In Montenegro, it was customary to put a piece of bread on the log and -similar to the Lombard custom- sprinkle it with wine. Balts Baltic people also have a similar ritual called "log pulling" (; ) where people in a village would drag a log (; ) or a tree stump through the village at the winter solstice and then at the end burn it. Balkans Serbian people have a similar tradition in which oak is burned. As early as Jacob Grimm in the early 19th century, scholars have observed parallels between the South Slavic custom of the Badnjak and the Yule log tradition. As observed by M. E. Durham (1940), the Badnjak is a sapling that is placed on the hearth on Christmas Eve. Varying customs involving the Badnjak may be performed, such as smearing it with fowl blood or goat blood and the ashes may be "strewn on the fields or garden to promote fertility on New Year's Eve". Greece In Greece, the yule log was believed to drive away the kallikantzaroi, the evil monsters of local folklore, from one's home. United States In the United States, a local New York television station first broadcast a six-minute loop of a yule log burning in a fireplace over the course of several hours. The broadcast, called simply Yule Log, premiered in full color on Dec. 24, 1966, at 9:30 p.m. on WPIX (Channel 11 in New York City) and became a yearly tradition. The original Yule Log footage was filmed on 16 millimeter