Lake Sumter Landing Get vets back to work event
 

the event held yesterday with various exhibits and some vendors, cheerleaders, twirlers, etc was not allowed to use the square.....used to be able to but now some part of the sponsoring CONTRIBUTORS would have had to pay to use the square. Sorta defeats the purpose of the event when a good share of the procedes would be for the Vescos pockets!!!!!

And as a result of not being a function in the square there was no news coverage or advertising before hand hence low turn out. They had a sky diver heqad for the lake and half way down unfurled a huge American flag....very nice.

All performers and exhibits were limited to the wooden part of the area next to the lake where the radio station is located. Very constrained area.....not fit for performers like the cheerleaders and twirlers, etc.

As we go forward the some things that made TV special and provided venues for support will continue to disappear, i.e. relay for life, no parades, yesterdays FUND RAISER for veterans.

I personally think it is a tragedy that these kinds events were merely part of the developers marketing.

Shame on the Vesco's for tarnishing one of the bright spots of fund raising in TV.

I do understand the concept of needing to be a profitable enterprise (the Veso's new ownership). What is not understandable is the crass, abrupt cutting off of events that USED TO BE a aprt of TV "lifestyle".

Unfortunately there will be more of this as the developer exits many more aspects of the "lifestyle".

btk

What's next the tree lighting? Don't make any money off that either.

Can you describe how the event was set up? Was it like market night and there were tents with rented space? Was this at Sumter landing? But instead of the twirlers being featured in the middle they were forced to perform on the sidewalks by the ice cream store? This sounds crazy.

send an email to Ms Vesco
 

Tell her what your feelings are and copy the POA & HOA & District Manager

Barbara Vesco
barbara.vesco@thevillages.com.

Elaine Dreidame , POA President
edreidame@hotmail.com

Jack Knapp, HOA President
napjack2002@yahoo.com

Janet Tutt, District Manager
janet.tutt@districtgov.org.

Dear btk,

I am unclear about this event and what it's for. A fundraiser to get Vets back to work? How do they help.... with clothing or cars or help making a resume?

I would be very interested to know exactly what the raised funds contribute to and who organized/sponsored this event... since you were there, do you know?

The tree lighting event will take place on November 29th - was listed on the monthly entertainment insert.

I know that I was making a statement about the NEXT thing to go.

That's this year what about next.

Before Being Critical, You Should Know What The Event Was For
 

For those of you who aren't aware of the purpose of the fund-raising event held last weekend, I think you should know before hurling criticisms.

The funds raised in the weekend event and others to be held in the future, will be used to move a specific number of veterans and their families to The Villages, providing them housing and household furnishings as needed. I'm not certain, but they could all be disabled vets. I believe the number, at least initially is eight vets and their families.

Once here, their education and training in golf course management will be funded by both donations as well as contributions from The Villages--that dastardly "developer" so many are critical of. The vets will be trained thru an extensive program of formal education as well as on-the-job training in various specialties on our golf courses. The cost of their tuition to colleges providing the training will be fully funded, as well.

Once their training is completed, the vets will either be hired to work on our golf courses or placed in jobs with other golf courses or country clubs. The plan is to rotate in more veterans, possibly increasing the number, as those whose training is completed go on to permanent civilian employment.

This program does what so many say is needed to re-integrate our veterans into civilian society. It couldn't happen without the generous contributions raised at fund raisers like that held at LSL last weekend. As importantly, a program such as this could not be successful without the cooperation and funding by the owner-operator of our golf courses. Our developer.

So before folks get their shorts in a knot over various issues...selfish issues, if you read many of the posts above...think about what's trying to be accomplished here. Think about who's doing it!

There are altogether too many people who talk about what should be done for our veterans and altogether too few who actually step up with both creative programs and deep pockets. Often those that do don't ask for credit or thanks--they just do it. We should be happy that they do things like this and grateful they are so important to our community.

Ditto! Thank You Kahuna.

The original complaint was about the group not being allowed to use the square for the event, but instead was confined to the boardwalk. If the developer is the main sponsor, why were they not allowed to use the square? Barbara Vesco does not own the squares.

But she owns the right to collect a booking fee for anything that happens on the squares.

Not to steal this post . I think what happened is wrong they deff. should be allowed to use the square. here's something else that was stopped that I copied from another post on a different topic.
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I was at the Cruise-In Saturday. I love that event every month. Seems there are different cars every time I go. I loved that Lincoln previously owned by the Ford family.

To my dismay, there was no cruise out. Talking with participants, I found that Barbara Vesco has even stopped that now.

What's next??