![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Dewey-Sanders-Maggie-Poklington-and-Kael-Seneca-at-Bay-Street-Yard.png\")
<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Dewey Sanders, Maggie Poklington and Kael Seneca at Bay Street Yard. -STEPHANIE DAVIS \/ FLORIDA WEEKLY<\/p>\n
I got to attend an event last week that made me think that, although the world is pretty much certifiably crazy these days, the kids of Generation Z are alright.\n<\/p>\n
The Santa Claus Society is a Fort Myers High School philanthropic organization run by the students for the students. These kids work to fulfill Christmas wishes for students in need, they provide Thanksgiving meals for families, and during the chilly weather snaps this past winter, made sure that students that needed warm clothes had them.\n<\/p>\n
Being From the 1900s<\/p>\n
Apparently, there\u2019s a big difference between Gen Z and Gen X, because when I was a teenager growing up in Southwest Florida back in the 1980s, I was cruising up and down Estero Blvd. on Fort Myers Beach with my friend Carrie who had a cherry red Camaro, or sitting in front of the mirror examining my pores and plucking my eyebrows way too thin, or sneaking cigarettes in the girl\u2019s bathroom at Cypress Lake High School, or even jumping off the end of the Fort Myers Beach pier on a dare.\n<\/p>\n
Supporting community through bingo<\/p>\n
In 2026, these amazing teens are organizing car washes, kickball tournaments, and more \u2013 including the super fun event that I recently attended, Bingo 4 Backpacks at Bay Street Yard downtown. Bingo is definitely enjoying a moment lately. There are bingo events happening all over town these days and the players aren\u2019t all elderly church ladies \u2013 bingo aficionados are getting younger \u2013 and bingo has become a vibe.\n<\/p>\n
Birthday bingo!<\/p>\n
So, it was genius that the students of the Santa Claus Society jumped on the bingo bandwagon for their latest fundraiser. Meanwhile, Paulina Dozier, a supporter of the cause, decided to have her birthday at Bay Street Yard that night and it became a bingo birthday party \u2013 the place was packed and as the kids brought in a whopping $23,000 to fill the backpacks of students in need. There was a live auction, a silent auction, and, of course, plenty of bingo as everyone cheered each other on. It was fun seeing Kim Perkins, Maria Paterno and Michael Stipac, Tiffany Campbell, Dewey Sanders, Thatcher Long and Yauri Leyva, Jamie and Matt Seneca along with their son Kael, one of the student organizers of the event, and Angela Brant, an educator at Fort Myers High School, the faculty sponsor for the Santa Claus Society.\n<\/p>\n
Major kudos to these kids, their parents, and advisors for proving it\u2019s never too early to start giving back to your community.\n<\/p>\n
The generations are covered when it comes to bands on the way <\/p>\n
Not only is bingo making a comeback, but so is 90s alternative music, which makes us Gen X\u2019ers ever so happy. Last Sunday, Everclear performed in Fort Myers at The Ranch, and it was recently announced that Cake will be at the Caloosa Sound Amphitheater, so all of you 90s lovers, go the distance, and save the date for Saturday, Oct. 24. But, don\u2019t worry \u2013 the boomers aren\u2019t being left out \u2013 Alice Cooper will perform at Hertz Arena on May 5. I almost want to go to that one for the opportunity to people-watch as folks line up for the Godfather of Shock Rock. I\u2019m really hoping that all the fans arrive in eyeliner, top hats, and leather pants. And finally, someone for everyone, regardless of generation. Weird Al Yankovic will also be performing at Hertz Arena \u2013 so get ready for some delightful weirdness on May 27.\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":"Dewey Sanders, Maggie Poklington and Kael Seneca at Bay Street Yard. -STEPHANIE DAVIS \/ FLORIDA WEEKLY I got…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":243921,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210],"class_list":["post-243920","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\/243920","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=243920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}