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Originally Posted by eweissenbach
I have been going to the town squares for eleven years and still enjoy going , listening, people watching, and occasionally, dancing. We go generally once or twice a week when we are here and not feeling threatened by crowds because of Covid-19. I also enjoy having a mixed drink or two when at the squares. Happy hour is from 5-6 at all squares, but used to be from 5-7 at Spanish Springs. Recently I went to the squares for the first time in quite a while and went to a drink shack about five o’clock. I have for years gotten a double bourbon and seven for the price of a single. I was surprised to learn that the only drinks that are discounted during happy hour now are beer or wine. Now, on the scale of hyper important issues, this doesn’t move the needle, but it did give me pause. First, it appears to me that very few people are frequenting the drink shacks compared to earlier times. It also occurs to me that Harold Schwartz and Gary Morse created the more robust happy hours in order to thank residents and visitors for their patronage and incent them to enjoy the squares. They realized that their business was primarily selling homes and not making money on drinks. It seems that the current generation is more focused on making money on everything, including happy hour drinks. I think it may backfire on them if people simply don’t partake and they still have to pay the bartenders. Speaking of which, the bartenders can’t be making much in tips under the new rules. I am wondering if others have considered this an issue or am I alone?
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Anyone who has been here for 10-15 years or more will tell you The Villages is not what it once was. The younger generation of the family certainly does not have the vision that their father and grand father had. What it has turned into is just an area of suburban sprawl with a name. It’s not to say it’s not a place where you can’t have fun but it has lost the magic the founders created with their vision. It’s a business and it’s all about money. Nothing wrong with that, its just the way it is. We either accept it or we leave.