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Sunny Lubner and Clive Lubner at the Florida Rep fundraiser. -STEPHANIE DAVIS \/ FLORIDA WEEKLY<\/p>\n
Trends come and go \u2013 but there\u2019s one trend around Southwest Florida that I can\u2019t help but notice. Having covered galas, events and fundraisers for close to 30 years around these parts, I\u2019m noticing that area residents are starting to get younger. And I\u2019m not talking due to Botox, fillers or skinny shots \u2013 I\u2019m talking about the fact that a new generation is starting to lead the call right here in what used to be known as God\u2019s waiting room.\n<\/p>\n
Gen Z has arrived in The Fort<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve observed it at several events this past season \u2013 attendees look younger, they dress younger \u2013 and the way I can really tell they\u2019re younger is that after I take their photos, I ask their names. For women, there is a plethora of Ashleys, Taylors and Kaitlyns \u2013 and for the guys, we have plenty of Joshes, Jordans and Justins. I checked, and these were among the most popular names in 1992, which puts these folks in their early to mid-30s, meaning that here on a peninsula filled with retirees and snowbirds, they\u2019re literally babies. And yet, they seem to be a different breed of Gen Z. They love to dress up, go out to events with their significant others and generously support the nonprofits of their community. Back in 1916, when I was in my 30s in Fort Myers, I was always getting hit up by the dowagers of Lee County, wondering where they could get new blood to support various charities. Unfortunately, back then, you couldn\u2019t force it \u2013 and besides, there just weren\u2019t a lot of younger couples\/families moving here. But as job opportunities have grown, housing has become more plentiful, and more schools keep popping up every day, we\u2019re definitely seeing a Gen Z boom and I\u2019m loving it.\n<\/p>\n
So welcome Taylor & Josh, Ashley & Jordan, and Kaitlyn and Justin \u2013 and thank you for getting out there and showing up for your community. Ultimately, it\u2019s going to make Southwest Florida a better place for your kid \u2014 Emma, Charlotte, Grace, Liam, Jackson and Ethan.\n<\/p>\n
A fundraiser and a cause \u2013 Reimagined<\/p>\n
I was happy to pop into the historic Alderman House in downtown Fort Myers recently for Children\u2019s Advocacy Center (CAC) Reimagined: Written in the Stars. It was a beautiful evening under a clear and starry sky as I milled about the terrace during cocktail hour, taking photos of some truly lovely and generous young couples supporting CAC\u2019s mission to create a safe and nurturing space for children affected by abuse and neglect. I was happy to see\u00a0Shane Spring, Stefanie Ink\u00a0and\u00a0Colton Ferry, Jonathan\u00a0and\u00a0Amy Gabel, Erika\u00a0and\u00a0Trevor Whitley,\u00a0Brooke Tooley, Zach Mascarelli, Adam\u00a0and\u00a0Rachel Bentham, and slew of others sipping, mingling, and supporting a fabulous cause.\n<\/p>\n
Somewhere that\u2019s green<\/p>\n
One of the most fun fundraisers I\u2019ve been to lately was Florida Repertory Theatre\u2019s Annual Gala & Extravaganza at Caloosa Sound Convention Center recently. The theme was green and based on Florida Rep\u2019s big hit currently on stage, \u201cLittle Shop of Horrors.\u201d There were live performances from ultra-talented cast members as well as student conservatory members. And yes, someone did dress up like the creepy dentist! Otherwise, there was greenery and man-eating plants everywhere. Board Member Sunny Lubner looked divine in a long pink flowered gown, Producing Artistic Director Greg Longenhagen was basically wearing a large green shrub, Dave Elias of NBC-2 looked dapper in a green tuxedo, attorney Jane Lane adorned herself with some vines and a man-eating plant necklace, Florida Rep supporter Rob Lopes was the Steve Martin-esque scary dentist, while his wife Kathleen wove purple and green flowers through her hair. And emcees Elyse Chengarry and Channing Frampton of Gulf Coast News looked terrific with Elyse in a sparkling, slinky, green pantsuit and Channing Frampton\u2019s tie and pocket square matching his co-anchor\u2019s beautiful ensemble.\n<\/p>\n
It was a much-needed record-breaking night for Florida Rep \u2013 and once again, it was so nice to see lots of Gen Z\u2019s in green supporting the arts in Southwest Florida.\n<\/p>\n
Stephanie Davis is a recovering girl-about-town formerly known as the Downtown Diva. A nearly native Southwest Floridian, when she\u2019s not photographing events for Florida Weekly, she\u2019s perfectly content to stay at home binging Netflix with her husband and three cats, Tennessee, Lilibet, and Jack.\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sunny Lubner and Clive Lubner at the Florida Rep fundraiser. -STEPHANIE DAVIS \/ FLORIDA WEEKLY Trends come and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":216397,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210],"class_list":["post-216396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216396\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}