Santa shares breakfast!
Right at 9:30 a.m., dozens of children and their parents were in the lobby at the North Fort Myers Recreation Center on Saturday, waiting to get in to see the man in the big red suit and tell him what they want for Christmas.
The rec center, with the help of the North Fort Myers Rotary and Covanta Energy, hosted the first Breakfast with Santa event, complete with entertainment, arts and crafts, a Continental breakfast and, of course, Santa Claus.
Jennifer Sites, who organized the event, said after putting on a similar event last year during the evening, she decided to do a morning event, with $3 admission for breakfast, with great results.
“I see a very large turnout. We got help from Covanta and the Rotary to keep the cost of breakfast down because you can’t really feed someone for $3,” Sites said.
The line for the food line was long and steady throughout as James Pittro and Deb Giacalone flew about pouring orange juice and making Eggo waffles.
Santa showed up shortly after breakfast began and mingled with the children, took photographs, and listened to what they wanted for Christmas in his chair beside the Christmas tree.
Nobody was happier to see Santa than Ella Hamlin, 3, of Cape Coral, who made an ornament for Santa, checking in with him every minute or so with a progress report.
“Look, Santa. I made it yellow,” Hamlin said as she handed him the ornament for his approval, which he gave.
Jackson Williams, 4, had the right idea as he painstakingly put ornaments on his ornament, held together with glue, with an assist from his mother, Danielle.
Joey Schak, 8, from Fort Myers, was one of many who sat on Santa’s lap to make his wishes known.
“I want a 3DS (gaming system) because I like video games and having fun,” Schak said.
Entertainment was provided by the Cape Coral Youth Chamber Orchestra, the Steel Drum Corps from the North Fort Myers Academy for the Arts, and the SNAP Crew, a dance troupe based out of the rec center, the latter two of which performed in the gymnasium while the other played in the lanai, where the kids went to eat.
Breakfast with Santa was one of two big events at the Rec Center on Saturday. Some of the families went to the giant garage sale before and after.