My wife and I and two friends went by golf cart to the chili contest. We parked the cart at Saddlebrook Rec Center and walked a few blocks across the polo field. Yes, it did have a fertilizer smell but was not overpowering by any means and I would not call it a stench at all. The smell was not noticible once you entered the show area.

I thought the area for the cook off was well put together, had some great $1 beer, most of the chili was tasty (the Marine Corp Detachment was terrible, CareGivers was excellent), good music, happy people all over the place.

Getting out was easy for us. We walked the few blocks back over the polo field, got in our golf cart at Saddlebrook, went through the Saddlebrook tunnell under Buena Vista, onto Southern Trace and were home in 10 minutes.

I can understand how some people were upset about waiting in line with their cars and carts - but when you drive into the midst of a crowded event, what do you expect? Park a short distance away and walk in is the best idea.

Rotary did a great job of putting it together. I will be there next year for sure.

Bad Bad
 

2012 Chili Cook Off was the worst event ever!! Just another example of the developer wanting even more control of the party. The merchants on the square lost out again when it was moved away from town. You were a captive audience out there and it was impossible to leave the place. How do you like the way they advertised it as the "polo fields" but actually moved it to a dirty "horse pasture". We were duped! :ohdear:

Skip

Parking and walking would be a great option, but it was not an option once you entered and saw the traffic. You were trapped in a loop with no way out. Poor crowd control. Have seen larger events run much smoother.

I expect a wait commensurate with the size of the event. I have been to events 10-20 times the size of the chili cookoff and have never experienced anything remotely close to the traffic problems I experienced on Saturday. I did take Bogie Shooter's advice and contacted the president of the Rotary Club about the situation. Here is his response:

Advice from a vegan:
 

It should have been for dogs only and the owners stay home for a nap.

:doggie: :doggie: :doggie: :doggie: :doggie: :doggie: :doggie: :doggie:

And that's the response you would hope to get from management. Sounds like the problem will be addressed with all parties concerned with a major effort being put forth by the Rotary to get it fixed or moved. Bravo to them:bigbow:
Skip 2

Wow, this person has issues!

The merchants on the squares did not get as much business but remember that the Developer gets a small percentage of their profits as part of their lease agreement. It was not impossible to leave the event. I knew where it was and parked my golf cart accordingly at Saddlebrook Rec Center along with lots of others. It was less than a 3 block walk across the polo field to the field it was in. I was out of the event, walked to my cart at Saddlebrook in under 10 minutes and was home 15 minutes later. Just takes a little bit of thinking to realize if it is better to park right where the event is or to walk a few minutes. It was dusty in the field but not filthy with horse excretement as some would think. Nothing was wrong with the event at all. Sounds as though some people might like to stay home and not come to charity events anymore. No loss to those of us who live in and enjoy The Villages!

Please note that the message was from SKIP not SKIP 2. I'm the nice one:clap2:
Skip 2

There are blocks on the polo field? How big are those blocks?

I usually say a block is around 1 tenth of a mile or so.

Check your shoes!

Skip

contacted the president of the Rotary Club about the situation. Here is his response:


Quote:
I am sorry for the difficulty you encountered during your exiting the our Chili Cookoff event yesterday. Your situation was passed on to us by several other attendees at the event and I want you to know that our Rotary Club members who organized the event will be reviewing these events during an "after action" meeting to be held soon. The Villages Event Staff were in charge of the traffic control entering and exiting our Rotary event. They will be part of this meeting and I will be sharing your comments with them. This is the first time we have held the Chili Cookoff at the Polo Field and like anything new we found issues we need to fix. It is very unfortunate that you and many others had to be inconvienced by the exiting process. If we are unable to rectify the parking and exiting problem we will have to seek another venue to schedule our event in the future. I will be more than happy to report back to you after we have our meeting. Thank you for attending our event in support of the 50 charities that our Rotary Club supports throughout the year.

I would have expected nothing less from this or any other organization with a major fund raising event. I did not attend so could not attest to the problems others experienced.....thats why I posted the email address.
The point being we can come on TOTV and b%$#* about things and nothing will happen to change a situation. If you think the powers to be are sitting around reading TOTV looking for somebody complaining....it ain't gonna happen.
Seek out those responsible and share your concerns with them, then when you get a response come to TOTV and share your story.

You da man, Bogie! :coolsmiley:

Bill :)

YES YOU ARE!!!

Good morning Skip2MySue!

Very nice reply from Rotary! :ho:

Regarding the initial subject of this thread, it is encouraging to read that only a very few people apparently brought their dogs after they were specifically-- and quite diplomatically, I might add-- invited not to do so. :ho: