By far the biggest Village's rip off: Once I got only one pickle on my cheeseburger.



.

There is no charge to see the Christmas Tree Lighting at any of the three squares in The Villages. There is a "VIP Tent" in Brownwood, that you can pay to sit and have drinks and part of the money goes to Charity. It is sold out. There is NO charge to see the Christmas Tree lighting at any of the three squares in The Villages. The entertainment business that runs these things was sold to a private individual four years ago.

:thumbup:

What happened to my reply talking about how Harold Schwartz is rolling over in his grave at the thought of charging for extra privilege? At least provide a response rather than refuse to publish my reply.

Wow! CWGuy now has capability to add or delete posts?

One of my many :super: powers!

:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl: But I only use it in positive ways...... not like "Underdog"

What happens if you pay for the seats appetizers and drinks and it's pouring rain that night?

Rain
 

Te table and chairs are under a tent.

:) Ask the people that paid for the 4th. of July VIP section. I think it rained that night.

Harold was cremated.

I've been coming to the Villages since 1982,when my parents bought a singlewide mobile home in OBG. I tore that mobile home down in 2016 and built a house on the lot. I chose to stay in OBG because I believe its one of the prettiest sections of The Villages. The town square entertainment has always been free up to now. Selling seats and table space is a way for the entertainment dept. to recover expenses. As long as there is still a free option, I see no reason to complain about the more affluent citizens of The Villages living a lifestyle that is more ostentatious than most others. LOL After all, I can remember when the most elaborate house in the villages was Mr. Swartz double wide on the corner of Aloha and Tarrson and people complained that it took up 2 lots. Some people will always complain. it's human nature.

Well said, puts it all into prospective...…..

The Point IS
 

The point is this is an attempt to get incremental revenue or revenue that is new and was not a part of the prior revenue streams. Now think of the many ways the Developer, Commercial Business, Vendors, Rental's ,etc etc..can and will use this route as needed. Now consider the many avenues available to increase year to year new revenue 's? (.g. pool usage, seats at squares, parking, new fines, internal categories of the Amentie fees, taxes, etc etc). These are under the authority of either the Developer, Various Gov't (Both Village and State)amd business. As an example the current incremental revenue for the Christmas Tree is being assigned to the owner of the Entertainment Vendor although it can be assumed the Developer will receive some, etc. In addition the current revenue streams will be increased as a basis for covering on going costs. A potential serious concern is the lack of control or influence the residents have in any of the decisions regarding "Village" impacts. Just opinion I personally believe using a religious line item which is more for children than adults and should be viewed as such before making it harder for some to have equal enjoyment and making it more comfortable with tent and location. :ho:

Worth reading again.

One way to stop this is, don't attend. The tree will be there many nights and I'll see it when I don't have to pay. If enough people stop attending and don't buy tickets, it will send a big message to those in charge.