I disagree, I have witnessed seat saver rage. I understand people wanting to guarantee a seat but there are no guarantees here for anything only that you may or may not get a spot at any of the events. We were at Spanish Springs one night last week, and a man that was with the line dancers was racing around tying plastic bags on chairs, two chairs in front of us was empty the whole time we were there. That is so rude and selfish, many people that come up to the square need a place to sit due to their health issues and I think it is awful that chairs are held and not even used. If people want guarantees they need to go to the square early just like you have to for everything else here. I do not get out raged about it but it is a selfish move. Many people here feel they are special.

I agree. Honey is expensive. The same thing could be accomplished with Elmer's Glue or rubber cement.

That's funny!

Jenny and I just went down to the Dunkin Donuts at SS for a cup of tea. I noticed that it's market night and Rocky and the Rollers are playing. We took a walk over with the thought that maybe we could sit there with our tea and wait for the show to start. It was 3:30 and I couldn't find a place to sit. Every chair had something tied on it.

This has to be stopped.

What's to stop someone from tying off all the chairs and thereby taking control over who gets one or not?

Untie them. Set the chairs free. let them go to their rightful spot. Whoever's back side flops in first !:crap2:

I agree with the petition completely. Multiple seat savers are mutliple seat thieves. They rob the rest of a potential audience from a reasonable chance for an evening's entertainment.

I was very disturbed by a recent post stating that a recreation and entertainment employee had discontinued the elimination of these saved seats according to someone's orders. Very high handed. This literal theft of avaible seats is a violent act against others who seek seating. Violence begets more violence. Please read and consider and react favorably to the petition o powers that be.

The problem seems to be mainly when there is a very popular act like Rocky and Rollers, Scooter, Uncle Bob or Cactus Jack. These usually play at each town square once a month. Most of the other performers get maybe medium to almost non-existent crowdsand seating isn't any kind of problem.
So here's a solution to the seat hogging problem. When booking one of the "big" acts make it a point to book one of the other big acts at another square. When you have Rocky playing at Brownwood and LSL has Freddy Smith and His Flugelhorn everybody goes to Brownwood. But... if Scooter was at LSL the crowd gets leveled out. Both would draw a good crowd but not the mess we get now. Now we get two acts playing to almost nobody and a mob scene at the other.
You could still see each big act at least once a month.
You would decide "Who should I see? Rocky or Scooter?" Either one! You'll still get to see the other one next time.
LSL should always have one of the two acts because they would draw some from wherever the other bid act is performing as well as from more distant areas.
No, this is not an impossible solution.

I wouldn't hold your breath for this 'solution'. Merchants and the acts themselves are not going to want to do anything that intentionally reduces crowds. And management knows this.

It's Rocky and the Rollers, Market Night, the Villages is incredible busy, and it's a half hour before they started, you should have brought two chairs. I went to a restaurant a half hour before I wanted to eat and all the seats were saved or taken there too. What is this world coming to? I guess what I like to go and do so does everyone else.

Maybe I'm missing something. How exactly does a huge overflow crowd at Brownwood help the merchants at Lake Sumter Landing and Spanish Springs? Maybe those merchants don't count? Are the merchants at LSL thrilled at the loads of customers over at Brownwood? If the "overflow" at Brownwood just gives up and goes home because the place is packed how does this help anyone anywhere? As for the performers; they will both draw large crowds anyway... just not the overflow mobs they do now. If you have a place that holds 500 people, what is the benefit of having 800 show up?
Come to think of it... it might be interesting to see how Rocky does "competing" with "Bob's Rock Shop" for a crowd.

Petition Against Seat Roping
 

Because it will be Lake Sumter Landing's and Spanish Spring's turns next to have the huge overflow crowds. If you schedule the big acts on the same night, nobody gets the big overflow crowds...which we appear to agree on. But I don't think the merchants view the overflow crowds in the same way that patrons looking for a seat do.

Hmmmmm. . .this is interesting. And doesn't Walt's proposal come under that Law of Physics that says something about how two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time. . .I am wondering if perhaps Walt just might be a bloomin' genius. :) Seriously. Logistics.

(That was not sarcasm from me. -- have to be careful around geniuses because sometimes they don't get what is or is not sarcasm. So I just want to be clear.)

Anyway, I like the thinking behind Walt's idea. -- But it probably makes way too much sense. (Sigh) Oh well, we are off to see MPire -- never saw them before. I need to get there early so I can help them spell their name correctly.

Sorry, but it was an hour and a half before they started. Read my post. We went over at 3:30. Are people supposed to go there at 3:00 and sit for two hours in order to get a seat?

And all of the restaurant's seats were not being saved. They probably had a someone in them. If not people called and made reservations. It's a different ball game with a for profit business that decides to accept reservations and free entertainment at the squares where seat saving is prohibited under the rules.

There's an article in the letters to the editor section of today's online newspaper. You can reply and let you'r thoughts be known. Check it out.