Lakewood Ranch hosts a launch party for book on local history

Lakewood Ranch has been ranked the No. 1 master-planned community in the United States for the past eight years. 

If one word could sum up what led to that success, it might be “vision.” 

“To be part of a vision that starts and stays in line all the way to the end is unbelievable,” said Bob Simons, president of Development for Schroeder-Manatee Ranch. 

Simons was part of a panel discussion at the Lakewood Ranch Country Club Jan. 9 to launch the new book, “Lakewood Ranch: A Legacy of Living with the Land.” 

Laura Cole, senior vice president of Lakewood Ranch Communities, and Heidi Scott, the book’s ghostwriter, joined Simons on the panel. 

The ballroom was packed with came to celebrate the new book and the crowd include original settlers of the community like the Schmitt family. 

The Schmitts were the first family to move into Summerfield. Matriarch Charlene Schmitt described the move as “scary,” but there was a park close by and the neighborhood was in a good school district, so they took a chance. 

A Schmitt family photo is included in the book, but it’s missing the youngest member of the family, Kirsten Lovett. Charlene and Bob Schmitt bought their home in August 1995, but 3-year-old Derek Schmitt was still an only child. 

Lovett was born that November, making her Lakewood Ranch’s first baby. However, she was delivered at Blake Hospital because Lakewood Ranch Medical Center didn’t open until 2004.

While Lovett was the first baby born into the community, the book begins in 1850 with the birth of August Uihlein, one of the original landowners. 

The book is available for purchase on Amazon or at the Lakewood Ranch Information Center on Main Street.