Fort Myers, Cape Coral: 4 longtime restaurants that closed in 2025
Cape Coral and Fort Myers experienced the closure of several beloved longstanding restaurants in 2025, marking the end of eras both cherished and significant to the local community.
- The 2026 Hooters Calendar features employees from Fort Myers and Naples restaurants.
- Ashly Reyes of Naples and Emily Hagedorn of Fort Myers are showcased in the new calendar.
- In total, 27 Southwest Florida Hooters employees appear in the main calendar.
- One dollar from each calendar sale will be donated to the Kelly Jo Dowd Breast Cancer Research Fund.
For Ashly Reyes, it’s more than just a swimsuit photo. Her appearance in the 2026 Hooters Calendar fills her with pride, a sense of accomplishment and a responsibility to represent her home country to the world.
“When I came here, I didn’t speak any English at all, and I had to learn it all,” says Reyes, 25, who works as a bartender and server at the Naples Hooters. “(The calendar) made me feel like I was part of something really special.
“I want to represent also my country, which is Honduras. I want to make sure that I’m able to inspire other girls that come from different countries and to give them hope that if they want something, they can accomplish it.”
The annual swimsuit calendar — now available in Hooters restaurants nationwide — prominently features two swimsuit-wearing employees from Hooters restaurants in Fort Myers and Naples.
Reyes is a featured “Hooters girl” for November. And Fort Myers Hooters bartender Emily Hagedorn is showcased as Miss April.
In all, 27 Southwest Florida Hooters employees appear in the 2026 calendar, plus another 38 in the pull-out poster included at Southwest Florida Hooters locations. They work at Hooters restaurants in Fort Myers, Naples, Sarasota, Cape Coral, Port Charlotte and Bradenton.
More than 200 women from across the United States appear in the main calendar every year.
‘It was so incredible’: Naples, Fort Myers Hooters employees talk about 2026 calendar
This will be Hagedorn’s second time in the calendar. She appeared on the inside back cover last year.
Growing up in Nebraska, she says, she had no idea that the calendar even existed. Now she’s been in it twice.
“It’s super-exciting to represent Fort Myers,” says Hagedorn, 22, of Fort Myers. “I’ve always wanted to work at Hooters — that’s always been a dream of mine. And then coming down here, I just went in, got an application, started working there, and then, you know, within seven months, I did my first photo shoot. And then this year, too.
“So it’s super cool. … It’s more than I could have ever imagined.”
The Southwest Florida Hooters employees all shot their photos in The Bahamas, mostly in Bimini, in late April 2025.
“It was my first time being there,” Reyes says, “and it was so incredible.”
Hagedorn was the first one to arrive for her photo shoot that morning. Her photographer shot her wearing a cut-off Hooters tank top and standing thigh-deep in the water off the beach.
“We were kind of on this secluded little beach, like a rocky area — super pretty,” says Hagedorn, who plans to go to school to become a cosmetologist. “And I was the first one to shoot at 5.45 in the morning, so I got up and ready.
“And, yeah, it was super-early. But we got a really pretty sunrise, and it was awesome.”
How to buy the 2026 Hooters Calendar
The calendars sell for $16 at all Southwest Florida Hooters locations, or $25 online. Every in-store calendar includes $100 in coupons.
The calendar release coincides with Hooters’ annual “Give a Hoot” fundraising campaign to raise more money for breast-cancer research. One dollar from each calendar sale will be donated to cancer research through the Kelly Jo Dowd Breast Cancer Research Fund.
Hooters has raised more than $10 million over the years to support the fight against breast cancer — much of it through the Kelly Jo Dowd Breast Cancer Research Fund, according to a Hooters Calendar news release.
Reyes says she feels great about being in the calendar, but she also loves being a part of such a good cause.
“I love everything that Hooters does — always giving back to the community,” says Reyes, an FGCU student who’s pursuing a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. “I think that’s my favorite part of working there.”
The calendars are available at Hooters restaurants everywhere and online at hooterscalendar.com. The online versions, however, don’t include the poster featuring more Southwest Florida Hooters employees.
For more information, visit hootersflorida.com.
Charles Runnells is an arts and entertainment reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. To reach him, call 239-335-0368 or email [email protected]. Follow or message him on social media: Facebook(@charles.runnells.7), Instagram (@crunnells1) and X (@CharlesRunnells)
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.naplesnews.com ’
