As the winter kicked off last January, there was optimism in the air early in the first year of the 2020 decade. An election was coming up, the economy was rolling along and an inkling of promise was in the air.

As the weeks went on, word about COVID-19 picked up, and soon many were wearing masks and using hand sanitizer, and it snowballed from there.

Here’s a look at events in Burke, Springfield and Fairfax Station from last year.