Cindy Dodd

Lehigh Acres came to be after a large plat of land was purchased by Lee Ratner of Chicago. It was some time in the 1950s, some belive to have been 1954. Ratner sold his pest control business for several million dollars and many say he purchased the acreage of a large ranch which was 15 miles from Fort Myers as a way to save from having to pay high taxes to the federal government.

On Saturday the community will hold a celebration celebrating the beginning of Lehigh Acres. It will be held on the lawn of the Lehigh Regional Medical Cener on Lee Blvd.

Lehigh was no more than a ranch. Ratner had planned to keep it that way. He called it his Lucky lee Ranch. Cattle was raised where streets are located today. A landing strip was constructed for Ratner and his friends who came from Miami, where Ratner lived, to hunt and enjoy the out-of- doors in Lee County.

Cindy Dodd, a vice president and branch manager at Reliance Bank in Lehigh, says the Lehigh Chamber of Commerce felt it was time to celebrate the unofficial founding of the community.

The cost of admittance is $10 per family or brining diapers for the Diaper Bank or food for Lehigh Community Services. There will be hotdogs provided by Cosko.

There are no statues today in Lehigh honoring Lee Ratner because there was no “official dedication” in the formation of the community of Lehigh. But at some point, Ratner learned that people up north were willing to pay reasonable prices for vacation homes in Southwest Florida and he was convinced to have the ranch that he loved so much platted in to parcels and to have streets built. People were brought here to be wined and dined in an effort to sell the parcels. There are some 128,000 lots in Lehigh today. Most are undeveloped.

Even the name of the community and how it came to be is unclear. Some believe it was named for Lee County and the high ground in this area. Others opine that it was named for Ratner’s first name.

No matter the origins, it became an unincorporated community of Lehigh Acres. It became a company-run town with little interference from Lee County government. Ratner built the streets and gave land for churches. A few of the people who are alive today remember Ratner as a friendly sort of man who was adored by Lehigh residents.But no history will be offered at the upcoming celebration.

Instead, Dodd said, it was to be a celebration for the family.

“We are planning fun things for the family and the children,” she said. “We’re hoping people will come out and really enjoy themselves.”

But before you can plan a celebration, you need the input of others so a committee was formed which included Chamber members Debra Shuman, Denise Stiles, Elsa Petrick, Elsie Jordan, Fred Elliott, William Hoppe, Joe Pearson, John Graham, Jose Morillo, Joseph Whalen and Karen Makowski.

Dodd was chairman of the Special Events committee. She said the group met every month since January making plans for the big celebration.

“Our celebration will be on the big lawn in front of Lehigh Regional Medical Center on Lee Blvd. Jose Morillo, LRMC’s CEO has provided the venue for the celebration at no cost to the Chamber, Dodd said.

“We’re going to have a dunk booth for the kids. They’ll get a chance to dunk some of the community’s leaders. There will be water slides and Truly Nolen’s Mouse Car will be there so kids can have their photographs taken in front of it. You know, the kids love that mouse car,” Dodd said.

She said there would be face painting and games and prizes.

But there are things for the grown-ups, too, she said.

A local band, called Certified will perform on a make-shift stage to be built on the lawn. Danny Stevenson, well-known in Lehigh for emceeing events on the stage during the Spring Festival, will be the emcee at the event.

“We’ll have the Bloodmobile from Florida Blood Centers there and we encourage people to donate blood.

The hours of the celebration are from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on this particular Saturday. The $10 admission is for a family or $5 if a package of diapers are brought ornon-perishable foods are brought. All food items will go the food bank at Lehigh Community Services, Dodd said.

She said parking will be available all around the hospital and the adjoining medical building.

Dodd said the kids will be given wrist bands so they can participate over and over at any of the children’s attractions.

Lehigh’s Honorary Mayor Marylou Land and Andrea Brown, who was crowned Miss Lehigh at the Spring Festival will be on hand for the celebration. There will also be a demonstration of mixed martial arts put on by Max’d Out and Combat Sports of Lehigh.

“We’re hoping for a crowd of 500 or so,” Dodd said. She suggested that visitors may want to bring lawn chairs and blankets.

“We’ll have a lot going on, plenty of activities and a lot of fun,” Dodd said.

Such a celebration was something never envisioned by what many call the founder of Lehigh, Lee Ratner.

He left his imprint however on the community through the names of streets and boulevards that included the names of his family and his friends and employees.

“Many of us believe Lehigh Acres is a great community to live in and this is one way we can get everyone together and celebrate Lehigh,” Dodd said.