News : Meet another Vinton: The Village of Vinton, Texas

[caption id="attachment_22429" align="alignleft" width="300"] The Franklin Mountains overlook Vinton, Texas and its new playground.[/caption] The residents of Vinton plan to spend a few nights this summer watching movies at the park, not far from the brand new playground. They also gather for a health fair once a year, learning from medical professionals and others. And local public safety leaders are putting out high water alerts, a reminder to the residents that flooding has been a frequent issue, with the worst water damage coming just over a decade ago. Those are all things that Vinton, Iowa residents can relate to, or remember. But other than those few coincidences, the Village of Vinton, Texas has very few similarities to our Iowa town of the same name. The Village of Vinton is located in the most westernly part Texas, at the northwest corner of El Paso County, just a few miles north of the Mexican border and a mile or two east and south of New Mexico. Just west of the Franklin Mountains, Vinton, Texas is about 2 square miles in size, with just under 2,000 people. Interstate 10 forms the eastern city limit; state Highway 20 is its western border. In between the two highways, the village fits between Valley Chili road at the north and Chicken Farm Road along its southern edge. Unlike Vinton, Louisiana, which we visited in December, Vinton, Texas does not have a historical connection to its Iowa counterpart. Texas historians say that state's Vinton gets its name from a railroad surveyor, John C. Vinton. Vinton, Iowa, according to history, gets its name from the only Congressman ever named Vinton: Samuel Finley Vinton of Ohio. While people have lived in the Vinton, Texas area for centuries, Vinton is one of the newest government entities in the U.S.; it did not incorporate into a village until 1960. Instead of a volunteer fire department, Vinton is recruiting volunteers for a unit called CERT: Community Emergency Response Team. One of the jobs of the CERT is to help residents protect themselves from flooding. Although Texas has been mostly dry, heavy rains result in waters flowing down from the Franklin Mountains, causing flooding concerns in low-lying areas. The worst flooding came in 2006, when every resident had to evacuate the village. Another flood happened two years ago this week, the same time Vinton, Iowa was dealing with its tornado. Like many areas so close to Mexico, Vinton's population is more than 90 percent Latino. Free English as Second Language classes are available at city hall on Monday and Thursday evenings. Most signs on the city hall bulletin board, including those that advise residents on how to safely travel across the U.S./Mexican border with pets, have both Spanish and English versions. In one of those mountain desert area ironies, Vinton City Hall offers information about where to get sandbags, as well as fliers reminding the residents of the importance of water conservation practices. Water supply has been an issue in Vinton until a few years ago. At one point, children wrote letters to the mayor pleading for city leaders to address the lack of safe drinking water. But a small-town political fracas interfered, according to an area TV station. The current Mayor, Manuel "Manny" Leos, was one of the residents who did not have access to safe water, and ran for office to change that. With the help of federal grants, Vinton was finally able to make plans to connect to the El Paso water system. The city is continuing its work on the water system while also working on a new wastewater treatment project. Along with the new playground, dedicated to Dr. Howard Applegate, the Village of Vinton is also planning a new community education center and garden on property Dr. Applegate donated to the city. Vinton has an active Keep Vinton Beautiful chapter and has earned many awards from the State of Texas, including a 2015 first place award. The city publishes a magazine-style newsletter each quarter. Called "La Salinera," a reference to an early name for the area because of the salt cedar trees early explorers discovered there. The publication offers the latest information about Vinton events, along with a message from Mayor Leos. My introduction to Vinton, Texas, came from its public works director, Perfecto "Perch" Valdez. We walked around city hall, discussing the city's various projects and awards. We went to Applegate Park, and discussed the effort to recruit more CERT volunteers. He told me about Dr. Applegate's generosity and how the new park was paid for by an agreement with El Paso County; the county bought land from the city in exchange for paying for the park. Perch and I discussed mountain flooding, a concept that was totally new to me. He referred to something that Americans think of as belonging to Asian countries: Monsoon season. Technically, Vinton and the southwest Texas areas are affected by what is known as NAMS (North American Monsoon Season). Everything from dust storms to flash floods to extreme heat to lightning can affect residents during NAMS, which runs about June 15 through Sept. 30. There is always a supply of sand bags on hands for residents who need to quickly respond to the threat of flooding. Those who travel through Vinton Texas, and continuing east on I10, may find some other names familiar to Benton County residents. On the east side of El Paso is Van Horn. Further east is a town named Ozona, which has a restaurant named The Hitching Post.