AMHERST — At a University Drive store a short walk from the University of Massachusetts campus, five shelves of electrolyte drinks, in a variety of colors, are set up at the end of an aisle. Above them are packages of red party cups for sale.

It’s a display that appears innocent enough — though perhaps not in a college town, where electrolyte drinks, including name brands such as Gatorade and Pedialyte, have become a core ingredient in blackout rage gallons, or BORGs. Those plastic jugs, each inscribed with clever and not-so-clever names, were prevalent during pre-St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in Amherst last month.

And consumption from these gallons, mixtures of hard alcohol such as vodka, water and electrolytes, based on recipes from TikTok, were blamed for causing a number of college-age people to fall ill, resulting in at least 32 ambulance runs to Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton.

Town Manager Paul Bockelman, who was at the CVS Pharmacy Wednesday evening, saw the display and immediately jumped on social media, suggesting that the business adjust its presentation through a tweet he put on Twitter.

“Ah, c’mon @cvspharmacy on University Drive in #AmherstMA. I don’t think your college-aged customers need this borg-ish serving suggestion!”

Late on Thursday afternoon, Bockelman got a response from the national corporation that indicated his tweet had the desired impact. “Hi Paul, we appreciate you reaching out. The end cap display is no longer in place at our University Drive store. Thank you.”

Bockelman, in turn, expressed his appreciation. “Thanks!”

Efforts to combat overconsumption of alcohol and educate college-age people about its dangers have been ongoing by UMass and town officials. Several years ago, when the kegs and eggs bar promotion eventually became Blarney Blowout, work went into discouraging businesses from celebrating a drinking culture. Later, a proposed Santacon bar crawl was rejected by the town.

At one time, too, the Campus & Community Coalition to Reduce High-Risk Drinking, a partnership between the university and local and regional officials, had a “Retail Partners Campaign” that worked specifically with area bars, restaurants and package stores to reduce dangerous drinking in the community.

This is not the first time Bockelman has taken to Twitter to address an issue he has observed in the community. Six years ago, Bockelman used the platform to suggest the former Starbucks on North Pleasant Street repair a sign that had been damaged. His concern was that leaving it that way for a period of time left the town looking shabby and could impact other businesses.

“Hey @Starbucks How long before you fix this broken sign in the center of @TownOfAmherst? It’s been weeks,” Bockelman wrote.

Shortly afterward, the sign was repaired.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.]]>