On a rainy Monday morning, well before the 8:30 a.m. opening time, long lines of Villagers showed up at box offices in The Villages for their free tickets to “An Evening with the Developer.”
New Villages residents, who had never seen Mark Morse or his family members in person, wanted to get a glimpse of what “the Developer family” looks like.
“If I passed them on the street, I wouldn’t have a clue who they were,” said one gent who moved to The Village of Gilchrist about four months ago. “They’ve built a fine community, so I’m in awe of what they do — but I’m sure they will review all they have added to The Villages this past year and perhaps reveal some new plans for the first time. I’m very interested in hearing about all that.”
Retail announcements are always eagerly anticipated in the annual address.
“I know they’re building a Steinmart nearby,” a Hemingway resident said, “but I’d be glad to hear whether they have been able to negotiate with Costco, Trader Joes and some other good restaurant chains. We all complain about the winter traffic, but without the volume of customers, the big businesses wouldn’t be interested in coming here.”
Other residents lined up for Mark Morse address tickets, but were primarily interested in seeing the inside of The Sharon without paying high ticket prices.
The lines moved quite slowly, because in addition to the free Mark Morse tickets, quite a few folks were buying tickets for other performances at The Sharon, and at the Savannah Center.
Although it was announced Villagers would have to show not only their Villages I.D. but their Villages Homeowners’ Association membership cards to get the free tickets — about one-third didn’t notice, or forgot about that little detail — and were turned away.
