Whatever venue is chosen, cost is a factor. Would Panera or some other restaurant be willing to give a space for free even if no one buys anything? I have been to a few Crispers meets and never saw anything except maybe a cold drink being purchased by a couple of members.

I used to attend Sunday night trivia at City Fire. Trivia players filled most of the restaurant. Very few bought food. Most had a beer or two. Some players just ordered ice water and extra lemon and made lemonade-and never tipped the waitress. City Fire finally said ENOUGH and Sunday trivia rents space from Canal Street Rec Center.

Dunkin donuts on 441 near the hospital has a meeting room.

You are going to need a fact finding committee before anything of substance can be discussed . I doubt you will find any restaurant that would provide a room unless they had a guarantee of a set amount of money to pay for the room.

is there a charge to use a rec center room?

I like the pot luck idea, villagetinker. If it is more of a share-a-meal social occasion, maybe more would attend.

Another thought: Seabreeze rec center has an outdoor covered picnic area.

I agree they have a meeting room

Rubicon. I wanted to get a dialog started about this so that we can look at this topic from a lot of angles. And this Villages is so much bigger than when the group decided on Crispers in 2008.

The last meeting I went to was about 5 or 6 years ago in the summer when the temp was 97 degrees and they decided to set outside except about 8 of us who sat inside. Not exactly a social get together....

Gee, I have enjoyed the four or more Crisper gatherings that I have attended as a snowbird. Now that I am finally a permanent resident of TV to present my case as such in all discussions, there may not be a gathering?

I would enjoy meeting in a rec center closer to the current center of TV with face to face discussions of current interesting forum topics as well as meeting people. Invite a TV official to tell their story at a meeting!

Well said Barefoot. The growth of the villages does have an inpact and I believe TOTV grew as more and more people were looking for answers concerning their move here. There are a lot of members here Ellen and I wish we got to meet.

Have you considered booking conference rooms at on of the libraries?

Sumter County, FL - Official Website

That's a good idea. Will have to check out if they allow food and the like.

The last two that I attended there was only a "handful". It's true TV has grown and 466 is no where near the center of TV. I'm not saying the meeting has to be right in the center but probably at least Sumter Landing would be better to attract "Newbies" to the meetings and maybe "Oldies" would like a change of scenery too. Someone mentioned Panera Bread. Busy, busy so perhaps a meeting every month is a bit much. Once quarterly a lunch doesn't sound bad to me. We are "snowflakes" (own/come and go) but maybe "frogs" in the future. The meetings have been informal and I believe you need to be organized in order to get a room in a Recreational Center. Just some thoughts.......

I believe you are right about using meeting rooms in the recreation centers that they must be an organized club or group .

What would we need to be an "organized" group in the Villages?