Et cetera : Christmas in (Gulf Coast) Vinton

Vinton residents lined up along the street, watching lighted vehicles and trailers heading toward downtown in the annual Christmas parade. The Lions were in the parade. Several churches, too, with people representing Mary and Joseph, the angels and the rest of the Nativity Scene characters. Fire trucks and Santa were there as well, of course. Business people stood outside the doors of their stores, waving to the parade participants. Vehicles with lighted decorations rolled through the small town, a working-class place that has survived and recovered several historic confrontations with wind and water. If you mention "FEMA,"� in Vinton City Hall, you will see on the faces of city officials the memories of the frustrations of working with that federal agency to navigate the process of funding recovery efforts from multiple wind and water disasters. Many of you attended, or at least know about, the Christmas parade in Vinton, Iowa, which fits the description above. But in this story, the words in the first paragraphs describe another Vinton - Vinton, Louisiana. The town of around 3,330 is about 15 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico, about 10 miles east of the Texas border and 10 miles west of the large industrial city Lake Charles. It's 1,109 miles south of Vinton, Iowa. Vinton, La., celebrated its official city Centennial in 2010, although people have lived in that area almost 200 years. It's not a coincidence that Vinton, La., and Vinton, Ia., have the same name. About 50 years after the settlements along the Gulf of Mexico began to arise, a group of people from Vinton, Iowa, arrived in southern Louisiana. The Iowans followed Dr. Seaman Knapp, who had been the principal of what we now know as the Iowa Braille and Sight-Saving School. He had also been involved in the Iowa Agricultural College (now known as Iowa State University), where he was instrumental in creating many of the demonstration farm programs that continue in some form at ISU and its Extension Service today. George Horridge, whose house is among the Vinton, Iowa, landmarks, also helped settle Vinton, La., late in his life. In fact, the Vinton, La., Christmas parade started at the south end of Horridge Street, near the high school. Historic snow Vinton, La., had something for its Christmas parade that Vinton, Iowa has not yet seen this year: Snow. Mayor Kenny Stinson said he measured 4 inches of snow on the morning of their parade, an amount he says that city has not seen since the winter of 1972-73. "I was in high school then,"� said Stinson, who told me that he and several other teens grabbed tarps and other makeshift sleds and slid down the ramp of the I-10 underpass that winter 45 years ago. That makes sense, when you stop to think that in a city where measurable snowfall comes every few decades, it's unlikely that you will find any sleds in the local stores. Many of my new Vinton friends spent the day of their parade making snowmen, and having small snowball fights. Most of the snow, however, had melted by the time the parade started. Another difference between the two Vintons: Being 1,109 miles south of Iowa means the Vinton, La., residents have an extra hour of sunlight in the winter. Sunset along the Gulf is about an hour later than in Iowa, due to the angle of the earth's tilt in December. So, at 5 p.m., when the parade started, it was still daylight. The clouds that brought the snow had given way to partial sunshine by the time the parade ended, allowing residents to see a colorful sunset as a backdrop to their parade. Hurricane Rita While most Americans think of Hurricane Katrina as the most devastating hurricane of 2005, it was actually the lesser known Rita three weeks after Katrina that most severely impacted Vinton, La. "When we talk about our history, we say 'pre-Rita' and 'post-Rita,'"� explains Mayor Stinson. Like Vinton, Ia, in the wind storm of July 2011, almost everything in Vinton, La., sustained damage in September of 2005. While Rita brought brought rain and some flooding, wind did most of the damage. Most buildings sustained some damage; the city lost many of the trees. In my hour-long tour in Mayor Stinson's truck, I saw another second-hand impact of the hurricane: Sidewalk damage. Stinson explained that the large trucks brought in to haul away the overwhelming piles of debris caused damaged to sidewalks - damage the city is slowly repairing. The brand-new city hall opened just a few days before Rita arrived; it was one of the few buildings to survive the storm with limited damage. Stinson and retired Fire Chief Jerry Merchant recalled the difficult days during Rita. Most of the residents had evacuated, but several members of the fire department stayed together in town with their families to respond to emergencies. There were two major fires during those difficult days. Firefighters were able to respond to the first one, and prevented the flames from spreading to other houses. But later, a large orange glow appeared from a distance in wind-blown rain. Stinson and Merchant traveled toward the glow, to discover that a tree had fallen on an outdoor building containing a gas water heater. The gas line broke, fueling a fire that destroyed the home. There was nothing the Vinton firefighters could do. The evacuation continued several days after the storm; residents were allowed a few hours to visit their homes to inspect damage. Some young men offered to drive four-wheelers to homes of people who could not return, to inspect damage. Some new neighborhoods have risen on the outskirts of Vinton since Rita. While Hurricanes Katrina and Harvey have caused some minor damage and flooding in the lower edges of Vinton, it is Rita that residents will always remember. Artists As Christmas 2017 approaches in Vinton, Iowa, the Historical Society is selling paintings of its beloved depot by a talented native, Hugh Mossman. Vinton, La., also has a beloved painting of its historic depot painted by its well-known talented local artist, Don McCaughey. The Vinton, Iowa city web site has this to say about McCaughey: The mural was painted by Don McCaughey and his son, across from the Vinton, La., Post Office, on the side of the Studio Mane Hair Salon. It shows the old Southern Pacific railroad station that was abandoned and later torn down as a hazard. In the background you can see the Vinton Feed Store and the Vinton Coop Rice Drier (which is scheduled to be demolished). He also carved the driftwood sculpture sitting in the front lobby of City Hall. Don has been an artist for many years. Although he has worked in every art medium imaginable, he specializes in landscapes and wildlife. His duck paintings are among the best. He is a Vinton resident, now retired and devoting more time to art projects. Vinton, Iowa residents might call McCaughey the Brian Parr of Vinton, La., thinking about the paintings, corn sculptures and chainsaw carvings that Parr has helped create. In Vinton, La., they might refer to Parr as the McCaughey of Vinton, Ia. Mayor Stinson pointed out to me the details that McCaughey placed in the depot mural, from dogs barking at passing trains to an airplane circling above. All of those reflect the artist's interests as well as parts of the Vinton, La. story, says the mayor. I came home with two posters depicting that mural, as well as a few pins commemorating the Vinton Centennial and other milestones. Different, with similarities Life in Vinton, Iowa of course, is different, than Vinton, La, where palm trees are common and the weather is usually warm enough to allow most vehicle owners to use open carports instead of closed garages. A local cafe, The Cajun Cowboy, offers fried frog legs and Cajun fries, and other seafood items that are much less common in the Vinton located 1,120 miles north of the gulf. Many Vinton residents work in the chemical plants in nearby Lake Charles; the Delta Downs horse racing facility is also among the largest employers in the Vinton area. Mayor Stinson was wearing a camouflage cap and jacket on the day we toured Vinton; he told me that someone new to town recently asked if he, as Mayor, always dresses that way. "Yes," is the mayor's answer. Like our local Vinton leaders, Stinson and the other Vinton, La., council members are working-class people. Stinson's full-time job is as owner of a dump truck business, although he said it would be easy to do mayoral duties full-time. The council members are paid roughly the same in both towns, and the fire department in Vinton, La., also relies on volunteers, although at times there have been some paid firefighters. While driving around Vinton, Mayor Stinson points out the new businesses. Finally, after years of efforts, a new hotel is under construction and set to open in January. And in another one of those two-Vinton ironies, that hotel is a Cobblestone Inn and Suites franchise. Next to the hotel, on a corner lot on the highway leading to I-10, is a space reserved for a new McDonald's. Stinson explains that the man who runs McDonald's franchises in the area is all ready to build, but the company is in the midst of a management change, and is temporarily delaying new franchises. A Family Dollar store is among the new downtown-area businesses. Mayor Stinson said the owners wanted to locate the store in another part of town, but he encouraged them to build downtown to help that area, which does include a few empty storefronts. One of the popular businesses there is Southern Vintage, which includes products several local merchants and craft-makers. Both Vintons have Knights of Columbus and Mason organizations. The Lions, however, in Vinton, La., refer to the high school sports teams, not the civic organization. Both Vintons have active American Legion posts with Halls at the edge of town, and monuments and tributes to veterans scattered throughout their communities. Mayor Stinson helped lead the effort to build a new memorial to veterans outside City Hall. History and Race I spent an hour or so in the Vinton library, reading through many of the town's history scrapbooks. The connections between the two Vintons appear often in those documents. Here is one uncomfortable connection between the two Vintons: As part of the segregated South, Vinton, La., was once home to what its newspapers then called "Negro schools."� While Vinton, Iowa didn't have any of those, local residents still cringe at the memory of a KKK funeral that took place (and appeared in newspapers nationwide) after the murder of Myrtle Cook in 1925. According to census figures, the population of Vinton, La., is nearly 25 percent African-American, while Vinton, Iowa is more than 98 percent white. Like Vinton, Iowa's legends of historical characters who drowned in the Cedar River, Vinton, La., has a similar Legende de la Dame Du Murais, a ghost who allegedly haunts the swamp while looking for her deceased husband. McCaughey created a monument to this legend, which is permanently on display inside city hall. Mayor Stinson told me that Vinton leaders occasionally bring the Madame to trade shows, as an informal representative of the town. Be sure to look for her when you visit Vinton, La. Baseball history: Bing Miller and Ted Lyons In addition to the other similarities, Vinton, Ia., and Vinton, La., both have had Major League Baseball stars who played at the same time, and even occasionally played and coached in the same games. In Louisiana's Vinton, pitcher Ted Lyons is as famous as 1929 World Series star Bing Miller is in Vinton, Iowa. (The nickname Bing came from his father, who got it from the Uncle George Washington Bings cartoon,which appeared in the local papers when Bing was young. The Vinton, La., house where Ted Lyons grew up had to be torn town after Rita, but his name is still familiar in his home town, and a local baseball field bears his name. Born in Vinton, Lyons first played "sockball."� He went from Vinton to Baylor University and directly from Baylor to the Chicago White Sox, without stopping in the minor leagues. He pitched from 1923 until 1946, although he spent three years away from baseball during WWII. According to Baseball-Reference.com, Miller, who earned his big fame helping the A's win the 1929 World Series, played against Lyons in a regular season game on July 16, 1925. Miller's team, the Philadelphia Athletics, handily defeated Lyons and his Chicago White Sox. Despite Lyon's success, the White Sox never finished higher than 3rd place in their division, and usually were among the last-place teams throughout his career. After both Miller and Lyons retired, the two became coaches, and became part of one of the most unique games in MLB history. In 1946, when both were coaching for the White Sox, 14 coaches and players were ejected after an umpire could not tell who was heckling him. Not long before that, Miller had offered his glasses to the ump, saying "You need them more than I do."� (See a story about that game HERE.) Ted Lyons eventually joined the MLB Hall of Fame; Miller did not, although he did once earn 6 votes in a Hall of Fame ballot. Government Like the Vinton to the north, Vinton, La., often has trouble recruiting candidates to run for government office. One reason is that sweeping ethics reforms pushed on Louisiana cities by former Gov. Bobby Jindal has made it difficult for small town official. Stinson says the new rules require all officials to pay for annual ethics training, and make it difficult for a city to purchase items from businesses operated by anyone related to elected officials -- even basic supplies from local stores. The state clearly needed to make changes after years of corruption, says Stinson, but small towns are now paying for the mistakes made by the previous generations of Louisiana leaders. Another unique difference: In Vinton, La., there is something called Mayor's Court. Stinson explains that under Louisiana law, the mayor of Vinton is authorized, regardless of legal training, to rule on traffic cases and other municipal infractions in court. Like most mayors, however, Stinson appoints a lawyer or judge to handle this responsibility. Yet, he says, as Mayor, he could choose to decide to hear those cases. Criminal cases, of course, go to the main court system, Stinson adds. Small-town virtue Another long-time public official is Jerry Merchant, a former council member who recently retired as fire chief. Although he has a name familiar to Vinton, Iowa, Merchant said he does not believe he is related to the Vinton Merchants. However, Merchant does have a funny story about names. Once, while looking to buy a used plane, he placed a phone call to a Vinton, Iowa man with the same name. "I called and his wife answered,"� recalls the fire chief. "I said, 'Is Jerry Merchant there?' When his wife asked who was calling, I said, 'Jerry Merchant from Vinton, Louisiana.'"� It's Jerry Merchant who gave an answer that most Vinton, Iowa residents would say applies to their town, when I asked what people like best about Vinton, La. It's the small town atmosphere, said Merchant, an atmosphere of tranquility and neighborliness just over the hill from the hustle of big city life and the Southwest's busiest freeway. Just a few miles west of the big-city rush of Lake Charles and a couple of miles north of the noise of the busiest freeway in the Southwest U.S., Vinton residents can drive over a hill and find a quiet, calm place to call home. Vinton is a place where everyone knows everyone, where people come together to help clean up and rebuild after Mother Nature disrupts life with wind and water, a place where people see neighbors as someone to help. People in both Vintons have responded this way many times over the years. A few people from Vinton, Iowa, sent some aid to Vinton, La., after Rita. Vinton, La. residents returned the favor after Vinton, Iowa experienced wind and water damage. Mayor Stinson tells me about another Sister City relationship between Iowa and Louisiana: Since 1995, Lake Charles has had a close relationship with Sioux City. While the two Vintons don't yet have that kind of official partnership, there are residents from each who know and have visited "Other Vinton," and there's a link between the two that goes far beyond shared history and storms.