CAMBRIDGE — The city added to its traditions on New Year’s Eve, with a special boat drop at 8 p.m. for children and families. The midnight event will also take place, as usual, to welcome the year 2020 to this Eastern Shore town.

Brian Roche was atop the structure holding the track high above Gay Street. As a clock struck the hour, he called out to the crowd below, “Are you ready?”

When they shouted their response — they were — Mr. Roche led the crowd below in a countdown and then released the miniature vessel, a replica of a Choptank River workboat.

She sped down to the sound of cheers, and thumped into pads at the end, by the foot of the city’s crab basket Christmas tree. As the crowd began to disperse, they heard the opening notes of the New Year’s favorite, “Auld Lang Syne.”

It wasn’t a recording. For a nice touch to wrap up the family festivities, Stephen Harvey of Harvey Allen Jams had stepped out the door of Blue Ruin, the nightspot across the street where he and his bandmate Ryan Allen were playing.

Mr. Harvey blew through a verse of the song, the tune ringing down the streets of downtown, and finished to loud applause from the surprised and delighted crowd.