A rebellion by some residents over The Villages Entertainment Department’s decision to offer pay-to-view seating at two traditionally free Christmas tree-lighting ceremonies was the No. 9 story of the year.
“VIP Experience” tickets were available for $50 per person, $80 per couple and $225 for a table for six at the annual tree-lighting ceremonies at Brownwood Paddock Square and Lake Sumter Landing – venues where nightly entertainment is partially funded through $120,000 in tax money provided by the Sumter County Commission.
Tickets included two free drinks, appetizers to be provided by an unnamed vendor and access to a VIP tent and cash bar, as well as reserved seating and “direct access into the square.”
News of the plan to offer pay-to-view seating at ceremonies created anger and resentment among many Villagers, with some claiming that the Morse family members now running the sprawling retirement community clearly had forgotten the mantra of Founder Harold Schwartz and his son, retirement community guru H. Gary Morse – a “millionaire’s lifestyle on a retirement budget.”
“You need to change from ‘The Friendliest Hometown’ to ‘The Most Greedy Hometown,’” wrote Linda Johnson, of the Village of Cortez, in a Letter to the Editor to Villages-News.com.
Village of Piedmont resident Don Robinson agreed.
“This is the worst sham I’ve heard of yet here in The Villages,” he wrote. “I’m sure that Mr. Schwartz is turning in his grave with the greed that is rampant in the Morse family. This is becoming a place for the privileged.”
Not surprisingly, the Nov. 30 Brownwood event largely appeared to be a bust. At about 7:30 p.m. there 18 people in the VIP area, which was located under a flea-market-type white, open-air tent located at the back of Paddock Square in a walkway area between two permanent bleachers. Guards were posted at each entrance to the tent, which held five small tables with white tablecloths and about 30 armless metal folding chairs.
The caterer turned out to be Dickey’s Barbecue Pit at Grand Traverse Plaza, where the average complete meal sells for about $11.50. The aluminum trays of food brought in didn’t appear to include a warming device, which was a much different story from a similar July 4th “VIP Experience” that included appetizers from the nearby high-end seafood restaurant Bluefin Grill & Bar.
Two workers from Dickey’s cleared out of the VIP area at about 7:15 p.m. and within minutes, one couple had pushed back the now-empty food table and moved their table and chairs closer to the front of the tent in hopes of getting a better view of the difficult-to-see stage where Blue Stone Circle was performing and ultimately the tree lighting. There also didn’t appear to be a cash bar located inside the VIP tent.
One couple who was standing outside VIP area expressed their views on the pay-to-view seating arrangement.
“Was it $50 per person?” a man asked his wife.
“Yes, or $80 per couple,” she responded.
“Not worth it,” the husband fired back as he walked away from the VIP tent.
