[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by Pamela1130

As a renter I found the games and cards disappointing as its difficult to find a group to play with. Sometimes new/ temporary people show up and sometimes no new/ temporary people show up. Regarding pickleball, advanced and intermediate players show up for beginners times. That was frustrating. For them and for beginners.

Maybe some beginning play more advanced than some? Beginner’s has wide breath of skill level. Good example someone that’s played racket sports vs someone who never never played any racket or paddle sport.

[rmd2]

Originally Posted by JamieKoblas

Being a new resident of the Villages I was excited to start finding some clubs and activities to join but I have run into a few frustrations. Can anyone else relate? Seasoned villagers, constructive advice welcome.

- The Villages app and website searches don't always show the activity I am searching for or show what I can clearly see in the Weekly Recreation Activity Schedule that is published on Thursdays at the Rec Centers

- Have gone to several activities to find out it is just for preformed groups (games, cards ets) or it is a performance group (ie dance type groups).

- Some groups their name is so unclear as to what or who the group/activity is even for

- Using the filter for event type is fairly pointless since most activities are listed under social so you will still be stuck scrolling through almost all of the days activities (at least in the printed paper, the simple division of indoor activities and sports activities makes it more user friendly).

- Contact info on the website is nice but 9 times out of 10 I don't even hear back from the activities coordinator

- The list here on Talk of the Villages is so out of date, almost all the activities I looked into either didn't exist anymore or had the wrong date and time. ( I do like the additional information that was provided about the activities though so I knew if it was an activity that was a good fit for me).

Basically I think there is room for improvement in the Villages Calendar on the website and app to explore to activities and provide more information on each activity.

I know there used to be a listing for all the bridge games by time, date, place, type of bridge and contact number but they stopped it. They should bring that back.

[bsloan1960]

We went to a weekly dance class advertised in the paper at one of the Rec. centers. When we got there the guy at the desk looked confused and said, "They haven't done that in a long time". We went to a weekly dominoes game advertised in the paper and when we walked in the room they were all playing "Queens". We told them we were there for dominoes and were told, "We haven't done that in a long time".

Originally Posted by JamieKoblas

Being a new resident of the Villages I was excited to start finding some clubs and activities to join but I have run into a few frustrations. Can anyone else relate? Seasoned villagers, constructive advice welcome.

- The Villages app and website searches don't always show the activity I am searching for or show what I can clearly see in the Weekly Recreation Activity Schedule that is published on Thursdays at the Rec Centers

- Have gone to several activities to find out it is just for preformed groups (games, cards ets) or it is a performance group (ie dance type groups).

- Some groups their name is so unclear as to what or who the group/activity is even for

- Using the filter for event type is fairly pointless since most activities are listed under social so you will still be stuck scrolling through almost all of the days activities (at least in the printed paper, the simple division of indoor activities and sports activities makes it more user friendly).

- Contact info on the website is nice but 9 times out of 10 I don't even hear back from the activities coordinator

- The list here on Talk of the Villages is so out of date, almost all the activities I looked into either didn't exist anymore or had the wrong date and time. ( I do like the additional information that was provided about the activities though so I knew if it was an activity that was a good fit for me).

Basically I think there is room for improvement in the Villages Calendar on the website and app to explore to activities and provide more information on each activity.

[Joecool]

The best thing is go Early. If activity is listed 10 go 930. Or earlier for some. I lead 2 groups and play 7. Have always been answered from my questions I sent to listed leaders of other groups, so dont gice up. The free print out on Thursdays in rec centers from paper is easy old school way that has it all.

[shaw8700@outlook.com]

Originally Posted by bsloan1960

We went to a weekly dance class advertised in the paper at one of the Rec. centers. When we got there the guy at the desk looked confused and said, "They haven't done that in a long time". We went to a weekly dominoes game advertised in the paper and when we walked in the room they were all playing "Queens". We told them we were there for dominoes and were told, "We haven't done that in a long time".

I play dominoes - maybe when I move there, on April 1st, we can play!

[Velvet]

Sometimes it pays to be flexible. I went to attend a Mystery book lovers event, which was cancelled but the next room had belly dancing. That’s good too, and I learned cardio drumming by trying to attend a beginners’ class in Mah Jongg.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by bowlingal

Jamie....go to Village Community Development Districts and go to the recreation tab. All activities are listed. Also, be aware it is high season. Everything is booked up at least an hour before the activity starts. Should lighten up after April 1

I just did that. I've had the same frustration as the OP, I just never complained about it. So I filtered my search for what I wanted:

In Progress/Future, Dance, La Hacienda Recreation, Spanish Springs Town Square, Lake Sumter Landing Market Square, Paradise Rec Center.

I just tabbed back over to see if I could widen the search and find some options. I reset and removed all filter criteria. Added back in "dance" with no location or time preference.

I found - five listings, four of which are full, and the Country Dance Partner Improver has 2 spots left.

No belly dancing, no hula dancing - no listings for either. Now, I know there are groups for both. There are official clubs for both. And yet - they don't show up in a search. They might be in there somewhere but the search engine isn't working correctly.


Results:
None.
There are no dance-related activities/clubs at any of those places happening currently or in the future. OBVIOUSLY that isn't true. But also OBVIOUSLY, this search engine doesn't work as some people think it should. If it worked as we assumed it would, no one would have trouble finding what they wanted.

UPDATE:

You won't find anything if you don't log in, you'll only find activities available for the public. If you log in, you get to see activities available for Villagers with IDs in addition to activities for the public.

HOWEVER

You won't find clubs. You'll only find activities that are offered BY The Villages Recreation department. If you're looking to join a Bellydancing club, you won't find it using the search engine.

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

I just did that. I've had the same frustration as the OP, I just never complained about it. So I filtered my search for what I wanted:

In Progress/Future, Dance, La Hacienda Recreation, Spanish Springs Town Square, Lake Sumter Landing Market Square, Paradise Rec Center.

I just tabbed back over to see if I could widen the search and find some options. I reset and removed all filter criteria. Added back in "dance" with no location or time preference.

I found - five listings, four of which are full, and the Country Dance Partner Improver has 2 spots left.

No belly dancing, no hula dancing - no listings for either. Now, I know there are groups for both. There are official clubs for both. And yet - they don't show up in a search. They might be in there somewhere but the search engine isn't working correctly.


Results:
None.
There are no dance-related activities/clubs at any of those places happening currently or in the future. OBVIOUSLY that isn't true. But also OBVIOUSLY, this search engine doesn't work as some people think it should. If it worked as we assumed it would, no one would have trouble finding what they wanted.

UPDATE:

You won't find anything if you don't log in, you'll only find activities available for the public. If you log in, you get to see activities available for Villagers with IDs in addition to activities for the public.

HOWEVER

You won't find clubs. You'll only find activities that are offered BY The Villages Recreation department. If you're looking to join a Bellydancing club, you won't find it using the search engine.

Just for the heck of it, try an Internet search for the activity in The Villages FL.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by Bogie Shooter

Just for the heck of it, try an Internet search for the activity in The Villages FL.

belly dancing the villages fl

returns a couple of articles from the Daily Sun about events that included belly dancing groups, but no information about where the group meets or when. One, The Villages Belly Dancers has a contact name, but no contact information to get in touch with her. And it's dated 2021 so no idea if it's current.

There's information about The Villages Gypsies belly dancing fusion group in a google search, but their facebook page says they've stopped rehearsing and performing as of 2017. And the rec center publication that you have to go to the Daily Sun to find shows they're still a club, and has a name and number but no mention of where they meet. If they meet in Fenney, I wouldn't waste the contact person's time asking for information.

And - that's pretty much it. You can take private lessons from various people near the Villages.

Thing is though - I know there are more belly dancing clubs in The Villages. I've seen them perform. But no idea what their names are or whether they're open for new members, where they practice...and the activities/clubs section of The Villages official information doesn't mention their existence.

In a more modern community, with webmasters who know what they're doing, you'd find a robust search engine with cross-referencing and redundancy. And yes - we're all 55+, many of us are in our 80's. But the WWW first became available to the public in 1989, over 30 years ago. You'd think by now, The Villages Holding Company would have evolved enough to employ web dev technology that hasn't been obsolete for 15 years (that's around how old the tech they're using is).

[Velvet]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

belly dancing the villages fl

returns a couple of articles from the Daily Sun about events that included belly dancing groups, but no information about where the group meets or when. One, The Villages Belly Dancers has a contact name, but no contact information to get in touch with her. And it's dated 2021 so no idea if it's current.

There's information about The Villages Gypsies belly dancing fusion group in a google search, but their facebook page says they've stopped rehearsing and performing as of 2017. And the rec center publication that you have to go to the Daily Sun to find shows they're still a club, and has a name and number but no mention of where they meet. If they meet in Fenney, I wouldn't waste the contact person's time asking for information.

And - that's pretty much it. You can take private lessons from various people near the Villages.

Thing is though - I know there are more belly dancing clubs in The Villages. I've seen them perform. But no idea what their names are or whether they're open for new members, where they practice...and the activities/clubs section of The Villages official information doesn't mention their existence.

In a more modern community, with webmasters who know what they're doing, you'd find a robust search engine with cross-referencing and redundancy. And yes - we're all 55+, many of us are in our 80's. But the WWW first became available to the public in 1989, over 30 years ago. You'd think by now, The Villages Holding Company would have evolved enough to employ web dev technology that hasn't been obsolete for 15 years (that's around how old the tech they're using is).

I wish I could tell you more, I just came across them by accident and didn’t ask any questions. Only once. Maybe it was a closed group that I joined? It’s not really an activity I would do… but I was already there…. We have gypsies in my native country and they don’t belly dance. European Gypsies dance more in the Spanish Flamenco style. Belly dancing is Middle Eastern in origin - completely different music (and continent). It’s sort of like when you go to the library to take out a book and rent a kayak instead.

[Barborv]

Get your Villages recreation paper on Thursday at any recreation center. You will need to do that for a full month because some clubs are only listed if they meet that week. Go to the back of the paper and email or phone the person listed for that club. They will let you know what the club is about and when and where they meet, etc. A lot of these social clubs are paid events also.

And welcome to the Villages. Once you start joining clubs you will have a wonderful social Calendar.

[DebMil]

Originally Posted by JamieKoblas

Being a new resident of the Villages I was excited to start finding some clubs and activities to join but I have run into a few frustrations. Can anyone else relate? Seasoned villagers, constructive advice welcome.

- The Villages app and website searches don't always show the activity I am searching for or show what I can clearly see in the Weekly Recreation Activity Schedule that is published on Thursdays at the Rec Centers

- Have gone to several activities to find out it is just for preformed groups (games, cards ets) or it is a performance group (ie dance type groups).

- Some groups their name is so unclear as to what or who the group/activity is even for

- Using the filter for event type is fairly pointless since most activities are listed under social so you will still be stuck scrolling through almost all of the days activities (at least in the printed paper, the simple division of indoor activities and sports activities makes it more user friendly).

- Contact info on the website is nice but 9 times out of 10 I don't even hear back from the activities coordinator

- The list here on Talk of the Villages is so out of date, almost all the activities I looked into either didn't exist anymore or had the wrong date and time. ( I do like the additional information that was provided about the activities though so I knew if it was an activity that was a good fit for me).

Basically I think there is room for improvement in the Villages Calendar on the website and app to explore to activities and provide more information on each activity.

We too have found finding things to do frustrating. It takes nearly all day to decide what to do and then it's too late.

Many pickleball groups are closed. Or titled to be "Joes" group.
Cards groups require you to be educated in the game and sometimes even intermediate or advanced. I've seen very few beginner level.
Our first year here we joined line dancing. We had fun. But, you did have to arrive about 45 mins early and wait in line in order to get anywhere near the stage to see the instructor. Once the doors opened people literally ran to get up close. The room was always packed.
It's the same with Zumba and Cardio drumming. But cardio drumming offers many days and times.
Most of us now in my neighborhood don't go to the activities. Unless it's a reserved dance, then we go.

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by DebMil

We too have found finding things to do frustrating. It takes nearly all day to decide what to do and then it's too late.

Many pickleball groups are closed. Or titled to be "Joes" group.
Cards groups require you to be educated in the game and sometimes even intermediate or advanced. I've seen very few beginner level.
Our first year here we joined line dancing. We had fun. But, you did have to arrive about 45 mins early and wait in line in order to get anywhere near the stage to see the instructor. Once the doors opened people literally ran to get up close. The room was always packed.
It's the same with Zumba and Cardio drumming. But cardio drumming offers many days and times.
Most of us now in my neighborhood don't go to the activities. Unless it's a reserved dance, then we go.

Not even one of the other 40 posts was helpful?

[npwalters]

Originally Posted by JamieKoblas

Being a new resident of the Villages I was excited to start finding some clubs and activities to join but I have run into a few frustrations. Can anyone else relate? Seasoned villagers, constructive advice welcome.

- The Villages app and website searches don't always show the activity I am searching for or show what I can clearly see in the Weekly Recreation Activity Schedule that is published on Thursdays at the Rec Centers

- Have gone to several activities to find out it is just for preformed groups (games, cards ets) or it is a performance group (ie dance type groups).

- Some groups their name is so unclear as to what or who the group/activity is even for

- Using the filter for event type is fairly pointless since most activities are listed under social so you will still be stuck scrolling through almost all of the days activities (at least in the printed paper, the simple division of indoor activities and sports activities makes it more user friendly).

- Contact info on the website is nice but 9 times out of 10 I don't even hear back from the activities coordinator

- The list here on Talk of the Villages is so out of date, almost all the activities I looked into either didn't exist anymore or had the wrong date and time. ( I do like the additional information that was provided about the activities though so I knew if it was an activity that was a good fit for me).

Basically I think there is room for improvement in the Villages Calendar on the website and app to explore to activities and provide more information on each activity.

Some of the more popular clubs are very "cliquey". My wife and I went to 2 different stained glass clubs to meet and try to join. My wife is a very good and seasoned glass crafter. We were advised to join the wait list. It's been a few years and no one has contacted us. Pretty much the same for the woodworking shops although that is a little better since the second one opened. I waited for well over a year and never was contacted. Same with a few other clubs.

With over 100,000 people here and growing rapidly that will likely be the case for a long time.

[BubblesandPat]

Originally Posted by npwalters

Some of the more popular clubs are very "cliquey". My wife and I went to 2 different stained glass clubs to meet and try to join. My wife is a very good and seasoned glass crafter. We were advised to join the wait list. It's been a few years and no one has contacted us. Pretty much the same for the woodworking shops although that is a little better since the second one opened. I waited for well over a year and never was contacted. Same with a few other clubs.

With over 100,000 people here and growing rapidly that will likely be the case for a long time.

It's the same with clay clubs. A good club will review its members list every six months or so and if someone hasn't come in a while they will clean up thier list. They are restricted by how many can fit in a room as well as kiln space etc. Many refresh thier lists in November/December as many snowbirds no longer are interested. So keep trying. Also many instructors are volunteers. You can start your own club! If you sign up through the academy and take a paying class for line dancing cardio drumming etc you'll find out about groups that aren't as published...