The Power Of Persuasion

AFD Ambulance 1 enroute to Cooley Dickinson Hospital

The cancellation of SantaCon was instrumental in keeping the last weekend in a college town before the students head home, a quiet one.

UMass had the lowest number of ETOH drunk runs all semester although  "Crossett Christmas" runs at Amherst College were once again the highest of the semester.

   AFD SantaCon Weekend

SantaCon Cancelled

To no great surprise, SantaCon Amherst is not going to happen.

Almost certainly due to the Select Board threat last Monday to hold (both) idiot downtown bar businesses responsible should anything go wrong.

And with 200 college aged youth, on the last day of classes, all dressed up as Santa's, crawling downtown bars, what could possibly go wrong?

UPDATE:  Saturday morning 7:00 AM

And nothing did go wrong.  Overall a rather uneventful overnight.  Well, except:

AFD responding to Townhouse Apartments, North #Amherst for a " trash fire in the quad."

— Larry Kelley (@amherstac) December 12, 2015

Who knew Rudolph was a smoker?

Tonight APD and ACPD will be on alert for Crossett Christmas, where UMass kids usually arrive in swarms to take over Amherst College.

UPDATE:  Sunday morning 7: 00 AM

Although there were a bevy of AFD transports for alcohol OD Amherst College PD and extra private security forces managed to keep the chaos under control this year.  And since Amherst College is tearing down the social dorm this spring, the last Crossett Christmas goes out with a whimper.

Ho, Ho Humbug

Select Board could suspend permit of a downtown bar causing a public disturbance

The Amherst Select Board, who are also the official state "Liquor Commissioners" for the town, heard a brief report last night from Interim Town Manager Dave Ziomek on the town's preparedness for the downtown pub crawl Santa Con, stumbling into town center on Friday.

He has "Every confidence we are as prepared as we can be.  Staffing will be up in both police and fire departments and Chief Livingstone will be on duty ... we will be prepared."

But Select Board Chair Alisa Brewer let it be known "If things go badly I want their names -- the establishments who participated -- in public.  If they created a problem I want it to be known."  She requested Mr. Ziomek provide a public post mortem at their December 14 meeting.

Connie Kruger also displayed her displeasure with the event asking Mr. Ziomek for ongoing reports the night of the event while she clearly stated, "My message is this event really is unwelcome in this town."

There was also some discussion -- and you could practically see their eyes rolling -- about how UMass Isenberg School of Management is probably not overly proud of their recent graduate turned hospitality entrepreneur.

And how perhaps the Campus & Community Coalition could have done more in response to this event -- especially after they recently opposed a beer/wine permit for a hard working small business owner on the outskirts of town center.

NPR reports

Sudsy Santa

And what's that Santa is holding in his right hand?

The kiddies promoting this childish event took umbrage at the Santa Con (Manhattan) photos I used to illustrate my post when I first broke this sordid story, and two weeks later they are still crying about it on the front page of the venerable Daily Hampshire Gazette.

But it was okay for them to use a photo of an obviously passed out drunk Santa in their Facebook promotion of the event?

Which also exposes their true motives for unleashing on our downtown this travesty.

Ho, ho, hick-up.

 Today's Gazette:  "Jollity" indeed

Nothing To Ho Ho Ho About

What kind of message will SantaCon drunk Santas in the downtown send our children?

You would think after the downtown bar promotion that forever changed the way Amherst views St. Patrick's Day -- and dare I even breath its name? -- our illustrious downtown dens of debauchery would give up on pernicious promotions ... period!

But Nooooooo, and now they are after the most blessed holiday of all, Christmas. Where, Only In Amherst, is it celebrated with a Merry Maple tree on the town common.

Click to enlarge/read

Rather than coinciding with the last day before Spring Break for a Blowout this Christmas promotion coincides with the last day of classes, which is celebratory enough as it is.

Let's hope the Grinch has a chat with "Event Mavericks."  Soon.

UPDATE: Saturday morning
Now that the Gazette has, finally, caught up with this story it will be interesting to see if it actually happens or not. Especially since the promoter's own former place of employment -- Club Lit -- has pulled out.