CARTHAGE – Anyone who served as a selectman here knows that if it was the first or 15th of the month, they were supposed to be at the town office.

That’s when the twice-monthly selectmen’s meetings have been held for more than three decades.

It didn’t matter whether the first or 15th fell on a Saturday, Sunday or a holiday. If it was 6 p.m., there was a selectmen’s meeting.

Starting on May 19, that tradition will change, and the Board of Selectmen will begin meeting on the first and third Mondays, same time, same place. To keep themselves a little different from their elected peers in other towns, if the first or third Monday is a holiday, the board will meet regardless.

“This has come up off and on through the years,” said First Selectman Steve Brown.

He’s been on the board for nearly three decades, and in all that time, the meetings have been on the first and 15th.

“We decided to go with the rest of the towns,” he said, largely because Friday and Saturday nights are often family time for board members.

Because the meeting date tradition has been so deeply rooted in Carthage, Brown plans to be at the town office at 6 p.m. on May 15, just in case someone shows up.

The other two selectmen, Scott Berry and Bob Weston, won’t appear at a meeting, though, until the 19th.

“This is a big change,” Brown said.