A charming, full-color mini-coffee table book exhibiting the enchanting beauty of Celebration, Florida. Celebration is a unique, neo-traditional community conceived by then Disney CEO Michael Eisner, planned by Robert A.M. Stern and Jaquelin Robertson, and designed by the Imagineers of The Walt Disney Company, as well as by some of the most notable architects in the world. Founded in 1994, the town has attracted residents from all over the world, many of whom stopped by for a visit while vacationing in nearby Disney World and fell in love with this modern re-creation of a small, 1940s eastern seaboard town. Not to be confused with either Florida retirement communities or the back lot movie sets of Disney Hollywood Studios, Celebration is a real town with real people of all ages, living in an idyllic setting encouraging leisurely strolls along winding, tree-lined streets that feature well-manicured lawns and gardens, and white picket fences. Scores of neighborhood parks, elevated wooden walkways, and lakes or ponds punctuate the landscape. About half the area of Celebration is wooded conservation area. The eight villages of Celebration cluster around an inviting Town Center of shops, restaurants, and offices; the Town Center also serves as a venue for frequent outdoor concerts, festivals, and community activities. The town boasts two boutique hotels, six houses of worship, and the world-class campus of Celebration Health Florida Hospital, fast becoming a renowned center for innovative health care and medical training. But at the heart of all these features and facilities is a family-oriented, community-minded spirit that recalls a life of decades past ... a friendly, clean, safe, patriotic, and stimulating place to live. That was Walt Disney's vision for encouraging a revival of the small American towns of his youth. That vision is embodied today in Celebration.
Jim Siegel, who has lived in Celebration with his wife Marita and their family since 2002, is a professional journalist and photojournalist. He is a native of Northwest Indiana ("The Region") where he and his three sisters (Kathy, Janice, and Joanne) were raised by their parents Charles and Mildred. After undergraduate engineering school at Purdue University, Jim and his new wife Marita moved to Southeast Michigan where Jim could pursue his dream of working for a major automotive company. They were blessed with two daughters, Jessica and Julie. While working at Ford Motor Company and helping Marita raise their daughters, Jim earned an MBA from the University of Michigan, as well an executive certificates from Northwestern, Duke, and Michigan. It was while in his engineering, manufacturing and marketing career that Jim honed his writing and photography skills. When he elected early retirement in 2000, Jim was told by Marita and his family that they were moving to Disney's new town just outside Disney World, and that he was welcome to join them. With that settled, they found a home to rent in the charming Celebration Village of Lake Evalyn while their East Village home was being built. In his spare time Jim began writing and photographing for the two Celebration newspapers, the Celebration News and the Celebration Independent, followed later by periodic contributions to the Northwest Indiana Times (for whom Jim was a teenage newspaper carrier when it was called The Hammond Times), the Indianapolis Star, and the Detroit News. Among others, Jim has earned press credentials at the Vatican and the Kennedy Space Center, where he has drawn material for countless stories and photographs. While leading a busy life as an active member of the community and at Corpus Christi Catholic Church, as well as the head of several businesses, Jim and Marita find time to enjoy life their daughters Jessica and Julie, and two granddaughters Brooke and Breya.
