UPCOMING EVENTS

Wine tasting

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Lee County will host their first ever "Its Twilight Time" on Sunday, April 15 at the Gulf Coast Town Center Mall.

The upscale, outdoor wine tasting event will be held in the Center's Market Decadent foods and wines from some of the areas finest restaurants, including: Cru, Blu Sushi, Harold's On Bay, H2, Norman Love Confections, Rob & Stucky Culinary Center, Carrabba's, Islamorada Seafood Company, Cantina Laredo, will be featured. Beverages and fine wines will provided by Stacole Fine Wines and Coca Cola. Ticket prices begin at $175 per couple for general entry and $500 for VIP all access. Visit the Web site for more information at www.itstwilighttime.com or contact Erika Hampton at 239-334-1886 or ehampton@bgclc.net

Many of the youth that attend the Boys & Girls Clubs of Lee County come from single-parent/low-income housing that resides in "at-risk" communities. These youth rely on the guidance and structure from the Boys & Girls Clubs to make them productive members and future leaders of our community. ¦

Poker Runs America

Poker Runs America, an organization that runs full-filled events for performance boaters from all over the U.S., will run a Rolling Backpack Drive from Salty Sam's Marina on Fort Myers Beach Friday, May 4 and Saturday, May 5 to help area children in need.

The event is expected to draw more than 200 powerboat enthusiasts. Some will bring boats that can exceed 180 mph. It will benefit Voices for Kids of Southwest Florida.

Salty Sam's Marina, located at 2500 Main Street in Fort Myers Beach, will stage the event. Public viewing of the "rocket ship" vessels is free and open to the public on Friday, May 4 and Saturday, May 5. Top manufactures will display their latest Technology for speed and reliability. Powerboat manufactures such as our very own Nor-Tech High Performance Boats along with Cigarette Racing Team, the creator of the spectacular legendary go fast boat will be here for the weekend. Both will be in great company with manufactures such as; Donzi Powerboats, Outerlimits Powerboats, Velocity Boats, Fountain Powerboats, Skater Powerboats, Baja Powerboats and more to come.

To donate to Rolling Backpacks contact Voices for Kids of Southwest Florida at 239-997-5437, www.voicesforkids.org ¦

Bachelor auction

The P.O.L.O. Club will hold its fourth annual bachelor auction Thursday, April 12 at McKinley's House of Prime, 5990 Winkler Road in Fort Myers.

The bachelor auction provides an opportunity for women to bid on "dream dates" featuring some of SW Florida's most eligible bachelors and exciting "date packages" donated by event sponsors. Some of this year's bachelors include WINK TV's hunky Meteorologist, Brian Monahan and handsome Anchor Kyle Jordan. FOX News is heating up the competition with Meteorologist Jeff Robbins and Reporter Donald Robinson.

Bachelorettes peruse bachelor profiles and pictures in a silent auction, and then the top vote-getters go to a live auction.

This year's event is going to be emceed by WINK TV's Feature Reporter Judd Cribbs and Anchor Holly Wagner.

The charities that benefit from this year's auction are The Animal Refuge Center of Fort Myers and The Music Foundation of Southwest Florida.

P.O.L.O. stands for Professionals Organized for Leadership and Opportunity. The group has raised more than $30,000 for local charities through their bachelor auctions.

Tickets are $40 at the door. For more information check the Web site at www. clubpolo.com ¦