Trouble to triumph

SUN CITY – For Jim Vinton, the confines of Boys Town school and residence at first seemed like a trap.

“I went to the counselor and asked, ‘What’s a guy got to do to get out of this place?’” Vinton said, after his first two weeks at the institution, where he lived and studied for most of his teenage years.

Jim Vinton. (Photo provided)

However, it was these three years, according to Vinton, that actually opened up doors. Boys Town was originally a home that cared for abandoned and rebellious youths who had no family stability. Before living there, Vinton lived in Arizona until his mother was unable to care for him and his younger brother, Bill. As a result, the siblings were sent to Boys Town in Omaha, Nebraska.

Vinton, a current resident of Del Webb, lived in Boys Town from 1960-63, and still maintains ties to the organization, which has since evolved. On December 16, he will speak in Drendel Hall to discuss his experience with, and the history of, Boys Town.

This experience, according to Vinton, carried mixed sentiments at the outset.

“I absolutely hated it when I was there,” confessed Vinton, who revealed that he and peer accomplices from Boys Town tried to escape and were subsequently caught by authorities and received the threat of the county jail or instead having to “tow the line” back at Boys Town. To Vinton, the choice was clear.

Life at Boys Town, according to Vinton, was for boys who were in second grade through senior year in high school. Once enrolled, a boy could not leave until he was 18 years old.

Although Vinton states, “I wasn’t the model citizen while I was there,” his high school years in Boys Town taught him a lifetime of skills, such as those he learned while in electronic trade school classes.

“Not only did I get a good education, but I learned a trade, which really supported me for the rest of my life,” he said.

After leaving Boys Town, and while studying in college, Vinton made a living working with electronics. He later worked for 25 years as the vice president of technical services for MinX-ray and has traveled to Japan as an engineering liaison. To this day, Vinton still works with this skill, running his own business, Vinton & Associates, Inc.

In addition to helping carve his career, Boys Town also enabled Vinton to discover his love of music. While a resident, he learned to play the bass clarinet and continues to perform with this instrument in the Sun City Band.

Vinton’s appreciation for Boys Town is apparent in other ways as well. He is a current member of the Boys Town Alumni Association and frequently travels to Omaha for reunions.

Vinton said his decision to join the association was “Just a feeling of wanting to belong.”

The Boys Town organization has expanded since Vinton’s residency there, and the institution’s multiple locations span several cities. According to Vinton, the new paradigm for Boys Town focuses on improving family relationships and helping youths with substance abuse, keeping child residents for at most 24 months.

Boys Town’s longevity is a testament to the help it gives to those in need, according to Vinton, who reflected on the difference Boys Town made in his life.

“It was looking back and realizing that no matter how difficult my experience was while I was at Boys Town, if I had not been there, I’d either be in prison or dead,” he said.

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