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<\/div>\n<\/div>\nFort Myers, Cape Coral: 4 longtime restaurants that closed in 2025<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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<\/story-highlights> For Ashly Reyes, it\u2019s more than just a swimsuit photo. Her appearance in the 2026 Hooters Calendar<\/a> fills her with pride, a sense of accomplishment and a responsibility to represent her home country to the world.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I came here, I didn’t speak any English at all, and I had to learn it all,\u201d says Reyes, 25, who works as a bartender and server at the Naples Hooters. \u201c(The calendar) made me feel like I was part of something really special.<\/p>\n \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n The annual swimsuit calendar \u2014 now available in Hooters restaurants nationwide \u2014 prominently features two swimsuit-wearing employees from Hooters restaurants in Fort Myers and Naples.<\/p>\n Reyes is a featured \u201cHooters girl\u201d for November. And Fort Myers Hooters bartender Emily Hagedorn is showcased as Miss April.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n More than 200 women from across the United States appear in the main calendar every year.\u00a0<\/p>\n This will be Hagedorn\u2019s second time in the calendar. She appeared on the inside back cover last year.<\/p>\n Growing up in Nebraska, she says, she had no idea that the calendar even existed. Now she\u2019s been in it twice.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s super-exciting to represent Fort Myers,\u201d says Hagedorn, 22, of Fort Myers. \u201cI’ve always wanted to work at Hooters \u2014 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.<\/p>\n \u201cSo it’s super cool. \u2026 It’s more than I could have ever imagined.\u201d<\/p>\n The Southwest Florida Hooters employees all shot their photos in The Bahamas, mostly in Bimini, in late April 2025.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was my first time being there,\u201d Reyes says, \u201cand it was so incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n Hagedorn was the first one to arrive for her photo shoot that morning. Her photographer shot her wearing a\u00a0cut-off Hooters tank top and standing thigh-deep in the water off the beach.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were kind of on this secluded little beach, like a rocky area \u2014 super pretty,\u201d says Hagedorn, who plans to go to school to become a cosmetologist. \u201cAnd I was the first one to shoot at 5.45 in the morning, so I got up and ready.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd, yeah, it was super-early. But we got a really pretty sunrise, and it was awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n The calendars sell for $16 at all Southwest Florida Hooters locations, or $25 online. Every in-store calendar includes $100 in coupons.<\/p>\n The calendar release coincides with\u00a0Hooters’ annual \u201cGive a Hoot\u201d fundraising campaign<\/a>\u00a0to 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.<\/p>\n Hooters\u00a0has raised more than $10\u00a0million over the years to support the fight against breast cancer \u2014 much of it through the Kelly Jo Dowd Breast Cancer Research Fund, according to a Hooters Calendar news release.<\/p>\n Reyes says she feels great about being in the calendar, but she also loves being a part of such a good cause.<\/p>\n \u201cI love everything that Hooters does \u2014 always giving back to the community,\u201d says Reyes, an FGCU student who\u2019s pursuing a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. \u201cI think that’s my favorite part of working there.\u201d<\/p>\n The calendars are available at Hooters restaurants everywhere and online at\u00a0hooterscalendar.com.<\/a>\u00a0The online versions, however, don\u2019t include the poster featuring more Southwest Florida Hooters employees.<\/p>\n\n
‘It was so incredible’: Naples, Fort Myers Hooters employees talk about 2026 calendar<\/h2>\n
How to buy the 2026 Hooters Calendar<\/h2>\n