News : Vinton’s New Parks & Recreation Director is a Hometown Kid Who Never Really Left

Born for the job! A 9-year-old Scott Wirth proudly sporting his VPRD hat, now he officially wears the hat

Thursday night at the City Council meeting, something quietly special happened. The council voted to name Scott Wirth as Vinton’s new Parks and Recreation Director. For most towns, that’s a line item on an agenda. But for Vinton, it’s a little more than that—because Scott isn’t just another hire. He’s one of ours.

If you’ve lived here long enough, the name Wirth probably rings a bell. Maybe it takes you back to Wirth Jewelry, the downtown shop Paul and Carmen Wirth ran in the ’60s. It wasn’t just a store; it was the kind of place where folks stopped in to get a watch fixed and ended up staying to swap a story or two. Scott is their grandson, the son of Mike and Heidi, and brother to Andrew. The Wirth family has been part of Vinton’s fabric for decades—woven right in with the parades, the ballgames, and the flags down Fourth Street.

Scott remembers the time he spent participating in VPRD activities well. “I was the kid who showed up to most of the Farmer’s Markets. I was at the rec center, the skating rink, the pool,” he said. “I was truly a parks and rec kid!”

And now, that kid is running the place that helped raise him.

Scott started with Vinton Parks and Recreation in 2019, mowing grass and keeping the parks looking sharp as a part-time maintenance worker. By 2022, he was Assistant Director, learning the ropes from Matt Boggess, who has since gone on to lead parks and rec in Hiawatha.

“A big shoutout to Matt for being such a great mentor,” Scott said, “and to the current crew—Nicole Druschel, Ben Gingrich, Alan Merchant, and Brian Elwick—who keep everything humming. They’re the reason things get done around here.”

Scott keeps an old photo of himself—eight or nine years old, grinning under a Vinton Parks and Recreation hat he got at a Farmer’s Market. That picture, in a way, tells the whole story.

“There’s something special about serving the place that helped make you who you are,” he said. “I’ve been lucky to grow my career right here, and I’m truly grateful for the opportunity to keep building something for this town.”

This fall, Wirth and his team are already lining up the usual activities and a list of smaller park projects before the snow flies. He’s got plans, sure—but mostly, he’s got perspective.

“We have a great foundation,” he said. “Going forward, I just want to keep building on it and give this community the kind of parks and programs that brought me up.”

Before stepping into parks and rec full-time, Scott coached baseball at Vinton-Shellsburg and earned degrees from Hawkeye Community College and the University of Northern Iowa in recreation, tourism, and nonprofit leadership.

Now, as director, he’s not just maintaining the parks—he’s tending the roots. The same ones his grandparents planted, his parents nurtured, and this community watered for generations.