He's from Water Oak!
 

So glad to read that this seat-saver is not a Villager!

[from the unmentionable on-line news]:"
"A 65-year-old man has been sentenced to 12 months probation and ordered to undergo anger management training as the result of an altercation over seat-saving this past September at Spanish Springs Town Square.

"Gary Lee Herzhaft a Water Oak resident is accused of pushing a 77-year-old Villager who dared to sit in a seat “saved” by Herzhaft at Spanish Springs Town Square."

Thanks for posting this.

Sadly, it was a Villager who got roughed up by this guy who was doing what he has seen done at the Squares many times before. This could have been much worse. Add a little more alcohol and a little more testosterone and the tiff becomes a disaster.

I'm not trying to rehash this issue, but the "no saving rule" should be loudly communicated and aggressively enforced.

I've said it many times. If The Villages doesn't take control of this problem and have their people prevent people from saving seats, there are going to be major problems in the squares.

Staff is on hand and most of them refuse to do anything about seat savers. People need to be told that this is not allowed and not just by a general announcement when it is too late. Staff members need to confront people that they see leaving items on seats or tying seats up with ribbons and strings and let them know that this is not allowed. Staff members should also remove these items when they see them.

If this is not done we can expect to see more and more of these types of incidents in the squares.

See what happens when we them outsiders into The Villages! :22yikes:

Hey, I have lived here full time for 6 years. No one has really been hurt in a seat saving altercation. This was ridiculous in the first place. The Villager claims the outsider poked him in the chest with a finger!

It could have been worse? Sure, it could have been like another story in the on-line paper today. He could have been stabbed with a turkey fork! :loco:

I'm with you. If the "powers that be" wanted to solve this problem, and I believe it is a problem, they easily could.

Like anything in this world they'll wait until after people really get hurt.

Community Watch Square monitors on foot patrol?

They have no real authority though. Dogs with all bark, no bite. No teeth.

Yep, even Barney could do better. At least he had one bullet. And if things got out of hand he could whistle help to Andy.

Poked with a finger and shoved. I suspect it was far more serious than a finger poke to get the guy arrested!

You got it! Give them the authority (and a pair of scissors) and the problem will be over in a couple of weeks.

This will end when someone pulls out a gun and shoots the seat saver. I hope I am not there when it happens. We have a lot of elderly gun toters here.

I don't like the attitude of the seat savers, however I have yet to see the defense of people who have found a seat & want to dance & have marked their seat with something so that after their dance their seat is not occupied by someone else. This needs to be addressed.

Remove the seats! Problem solved. It you want or set bring you own seat. After all free intertainment and don't have provide free seats. This will come to that or seat checkout with fee?

I love the simplicity of your solution.
We're not broke. Buy a chair for a free concert.

want a seat, bring a seat.

Don't put the chairs out in advance, and charge a dollar for a numbered chair to use, at the entrances. They can't save bunches of chairs that aren't in there.

The demanding cheapskates that expect everything "for free" will have a fit about the dollar charge and they'll leave, if the normal, appreciative people are lucky.

Charge them $5 and reduce the amenity fees.

Oh. So now it's a matter of too many guns. Chair issues are going to provoke a gun to pull and fire itself because the owner was legally allowed to own a gun.

Like road rage is a matter of "too many cars" in the hands of people who would bash or run over somebody with the 3,000 pound mass of steel.

I like the idea of bring your own seat.

Too, the powers-that-be could lend one chair to each card carrying Villager and rent chairs for $5 to nonVillagers. A $10 refundable-upon-return deposit might help get the chairs returned in good shape. The $5 fee for nonVillagers could go into the amenity fee kitty. That way outsiders would help pay for the performances that Villagers' amenity fees may be covering (???not sure on this???). Are outsiders getting free seats at music performances that Villagers are paying for one way or another?

Maybe the rental charge should be higher.

I don't think anyone is trying to make this a Second Amendment issue, but is merely pointing out that if you mix alcohol, anger, and legal concealed carry, and possibly toss in the "stand your ground" law, you might have some regrettable gunfire. It could just as easily be someone getting pelted with a blackjack or punched. The issue to be fixed here is the seat saving leading to a lack of safety, but there are other peripheral factors at play.

So, once again we find ourselves in the position of having to "legislate" good behavior, something Mommy should have instilled in us 60 years ago.
So IF (note IF) the problem is non-Villagers, that's easy---the squares themselves are private property, so only allow admittance with a Village ID. Yes, yes I know the merchants need outside consumers, but I doubt the people who come for FREE entertainment, save FREE seats, and probably bring their own cooler as well are spending much money in the shops.
IF (again IF) the problem children are Villagers saving seats, then have numbered seats, you get a ticket with a Village ID, or buy one for $5 without ID. If someone is in your numbered seat, staff can deal with it, if they become hostile, LEO can be called. No one should lose their seat if they dance, get a drink or go potty any more than you lose it at a stadium or theater. The second alternative is to have no seats other than what you bring, but then there is the problem of the bleachers at Brownwood.

Hmmm... Interesting... BYOC
 

Bring-your-own-chair (BYOC)... Sounds interesting.

What about waiting until 5:00 to setup the chairs? i.e. no chairs to "save" earlier.

Won't solve the issue of coming back from dancing and having your seat occupied

Rude behavior short of shoving or hitting is not illegal. So it is not enforceable in a public place.


Staff can tell people to remove seat saving things and people can (and will) ignore staff. Staff get's stern in demeanor and language and drunk decks staff. THEN the law can step in.


The entertainment staff is not as dumb as some think.

if you can't act like an adult you should be sent to bed without your free entertainment!