[Cedwards38]

I am against the practice of roping off or in any other way holding a section of seats at the various town squares. I think this is rude, selfish, inconsiderate, and wrong and I want to see a policy to bring it to an end. We all pay for those seats and I believe all seats at the squares should be available on a first come, first serve basis, with one seat for one person. This is in no way intended to prohibit a person from saving a seat that has already been taken while that seat occupant is otherwise engaged and away from the seat for a short period of time. I don't care if you're having a class reunion, neighborhood gathering, or the family is in from up north or whatever other reason you feel is justification for inconveniencing the rest of us. Seat holding of large groups when the occupants are not there is wrong and unfair and must end.

Therefore: I petition that The Villages Entertainment Division establish an official policy prohibiting the roping off or in any other way holding or making unavailable to the general public seats for persons who are not currently there to occupy them.

Furthermore, I petition that The Villages Entertainment Division post easily visible signs in multiple locations at each of the town square venues stating this new policy in easily understood language, and that this policy be announced multiple times during each evening at each of the town square venues.

Furthermore I petition that The Villages Entertainment Division employees and/or the applicable sheriff's office enforce this policy each evening.

If you agree with this petition then please post stating that you agree. Any who disagree, please feel free to express your disagreement here as well. Hopefully it will all be reviewed by The Villages Entertainment Division and action will be taken to resolve this issue.

[graciegirl]

I agree. I almost always agree with you. I agree with why you want a petition...But I don't think it would WORK.

I remember when are kids were little and we vacationed in Miami. There was always some mom yelling "Jeffrey, Get outa the wadda" over and over.

She never waded in and dragged him out as far as I knew. My kids got out.
I was a dragger.

If you are gonna tell people not to do something, you are gonna have to make it stick. How is the recreation department going to do that? What consequences or what penalty can be given? I can't think of any.

[Bonnevie]

might be something worth mentioning in the resident survey?

[2BNTV]

I agree. One fanny in seat equals reserved!!!!

[Allegiance]

I am offering one happy hour priced drink as a reward to anyone who cuts said rope into multiple unusable pieces.

[Grandfinch]

I would like to see a reporter ask them to comment for the local paper as to why the see it as OK to save seats. They may have a reason that would be acceptable to the general population. If not, they should then feel embarrassed enough to stop the practice.

[Grandfinch]

Originally Posted by Allegiance

I am offering one happy hour priced drink as a reward to anyone who cuts said rope into multiple unusable pieces.

Add one more from me. I rarely go to the square, but if I did, I would be upset with seeing blocked off areas, like I am not good enough for that area.

[Sandtrap328]

I disagree with this petition.

There is no reason to have more and more rules. Everyone knows for the most popular entertainers to arrive very early and take a seat for yourself and your date. If you find no available chairs and there are "roped off" large sections with no one in them, there is nothing to prevent you from taking one or two of those. There will be no confrontation except maybe a "those are saved". Just sit down anyhow or move them. The person may grouse a bit but nothing more. No physical altercation has ever happened as that would be an assault and would be duly noted in the online paper.

Once again, get there early. You cannot expect to come at 5:00 for Rocky and expect to find empty seats

[Grandfinch]

Originally Posted by Sandtrap328

I disagree with this petition.

There is no reason to have more and more rules. Everyone knows for the most popular entertainers to arrive very early and take a seat for yourself and your date. If you find no available chairs and there are "roped off" large sections with no one in them, there is nothing to prevent you from taking one or two of those. There will be no confrontation except maybe a "those are saved". Just sit down anyhow or move them. The person may grouse a bit but nothing more. No physical altercation has ever happened as that would be an assault and would be duly noted in the online paper.

Once again, get there early. You cannot expect to come at 5:00 for Rocky and expect to find empty seats

At my age and physical condition, I would feel very intimidated doing what you say here. I suspect you would witness seat saver rage immediately. Unfortunately, we do need a rule and it must be enforced for thebenifit of those of us that limp into the squares only to find all open seats roped off.

[Sandtrap328]

Originally Posted by Grandfinch

At my age and physical condition, I would feel very intimidated doing what you say here. I suspect you would witness seat saver rage immediately. Unfortunately, we do need a rule and it must be enforced for thebenifit of those of us that limp into the squares only to find all open seats roped off.

I go to Spanish Springs and Lake Sumter Landing frequently. The seat saving of large blocs of chairs is NOT a big problem. If a person arrives early, there is hardly ever a time you will not get seats. The other choice is to bring your own chair! Whenever we go to the most popular entertainers, we bring our own folding chairs.

There has NEVER been seat saver rage.

I do not know in what context you mean you "limp" in. If you mean a physical limp, arrive early. If you mean, arrive after the show starts, once again, arrive early!

To sum up - arrive early - bring your own chair - enjoy the entertainment!

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by Grandfinch

At my age and physical condition, I would feel very intimidated doing what you say here. I suspect you would witness seat saver rage immediately. Unfortunately, we do need a rule and it must be enforced for thebenifit of those of us that limp into the squares only to find all open seats roped off.

But, you so rarely go to the squares?

[Bogie Shooter]

Why would you think The Villages Entertainment Division would review this thread?

[Cedwards38]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

I agree. I almost always agree with you. I agree with why you want a petition...But I don't think it would WORK.

I remember when are kids were little and we vacationed in Miami. There was always some mom yelling "Jeffrey, Get outa the wadda" over and over.

She never waded in and dragged him out as far as I knew. My kids got out.
I was a dragger.

If you are gonna tell people not to do something, you are gonna have to make it stick. How is the recreation department going to do that? What consequences or what penalty can be given? I can't think of any.

Originally Posted by Grandfinch

At my age and physical condition, I would feel very intimidated doing what you say here. I suspect you would witness seat saver rage immediately. Unfortunately, we do need a rule and it must be enforced for thebenifit of those of us that limp into the squares only to find all open seats roped off.

This is to answer a few very legitimate questions raised about this issue.

1. During square performances, The Villages Entertainment Division controls the venue. While they control the venue they may establish policies for the venue, so long as their policies are not arbitrary and apply to everyone equally. If they establish policies, then those policies may be enforced by their privately contracted security employees as nearly every public performance does, or more importantly by the applicable sheriff's office. If someone attempts to resist the sheriff's office or the private security, they may be ejected and/or banned. If they resist vehemently enough, they may be arrested and jailed.

2. I'm sure there would, in the beginning, be incidents of seat saver rage by those who want to continue the banned practice. If the sheriff's office or private security are there to enforce the policy then that rage is more likely to be controlled. There absolutely would be some incident that would get out of hand, and if a violator resists the directives of the sheriff's office or private security, then that could result in ejection, banning, arrest, and incarceration. It absolutely will happen, but when the public realizes that the policy is going to be enforced, and that consequences for violating the policy could be serious, it would only take one or maybe two incidents and the problem would no longer exist.

3. Some are saying that the saving of seats is absolutely not a problem, but I disagree. We see it mentioned in TOTV very often. Some of you don't perceive it as a problem because there is no policy, thus no one says anything to those persons who save the seats. They just walk away from the inconsiderate practice because they have no basis on which to complain. There is a problem or we wouldn't see it listed here so often.

[Average Guy]

A post in an older thread gave this link to the policy:

FAQ - The Villages Entertainment * Special Events * Box Office

In that link, the last FAQ under the topic "Free Nightly Entertainment" addresses saving seats:

"Q: May we rope off a group of chairs prior to an event?

A: No. Roping or taping chairs together inhibits event setup. If you need to hold chairs, at least one person in your party needs to be with your chairs at all times."

So, apparently there already is a policy, but the real issue is enforcement. If it is not enforced, it is useless.

[villagerjack]

Agree