In a year like no other, a traditional rite of New England springtime was upended, with town meetings postponed, budgets trimmed, warrants downsized, elections delayed and venues changed. The results were sometimes predictable; more often surprising. Here are some observations from town meeting season 2020:

The first town to hold its town meeting in the coronavirus era, Chilmark was a model of efficiency with voters gathered on the community center’s basketball court taking just 30 minutes to dispense with an 18-article warrant.

Moved outdoors for the first time ever, the Edgartown town meeting took place under a sun-splashed tent in the middle of June. And if it lacked the majesty of the Old Whaling Church in April, the picture-perfect day more than made up for it.

For the first time in its 128-year history, the West Tisbury town meeting was not held in West Tisbury. But voters who had to travel to the Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs had to credit the town’s fiscal responsibility: selectmen said they saved about $12,000 in tent rental.

Edgartown officials breathed a sigh of relief when Gov. Charlie Baker signed a bill allowing the town to cut its 200-person quorum requirements by 90 per cent. More than 200 people showed up anyway, despite health worries and a lack of controversial warrant articles.

Fifty-five people registered for town meeting in tiny Aquinnah, 20 more than was needed for a quorum. That was good news, since Aquinnah selectmen were scheduled to consider a quorum reduction at a meeting to be held three days after the town meeting.

Two-term Tisbury select board member Melinda Loberg lost her bid for re-election, even as one of her signature projects — a comprehensive $6.4 million project to expand sewerage and increase wastewater treatment — was handily approved.

Some blamed Ms. Loberg’s failure to take a position on the new Tisbury School two years ago for her defeat. In the meantime, new estimates to renovate the old school have come in at $55 million, about $23 million more than the net cost to the town of the 2018 plan.

Three times was the charm as voters in Oak Bluffs finally agreed to do something about their derelict town hall. Renovating the building, built as an elementary school, will cost $13.3 million, nearly twice the $6.8 million voters rejected in 2014 to build a brand new town hall.

Meanwhile, selectman Brian Packish who in 2018 led the defeat of a second, $9 million plan to replace the town hall, was handily re-elected.

Do politics make you hungry? Of the seven people vying for contested positions in Edgartown, three were chefs and a fourth, running for a seat on the board of health, was a cheese maker.

Amidst a national reckoning on policing practices, Edgartown police officer Ryan Ruley, a political newcomer, was the top vote-getter among a field of four competing for two seats on the Oak Bluffs board of selectmen.

And in a year that seemed mostly about change, seven-term Edgartown selectman Margaret Serpa withstood two challengers to retain her seat.

Though voters allocated funds for various housing projects, the issue that dominated last year’s town meetings — a proposal to create a housing bank to create more affordable housing — was nowhere in sight.

Best dressed moderator? Chilmark’s Everett Poole updated his traditional blue blazer and red tie with a boater for sun protection and a red and white mask against the virus.