Ed Horton as busy as ever

Editor's note: The following story is part of Gold Country Media's "Our Town" community profile series that spotlights our community's unique residents and public figures. Ed Horton was the Loomis Volunteer Fire Department chief in the 1980s and spent five terms on the Placer County Water Agency board, eight years as chairman. He has served on numerous other boards and commissions and received many honors and awards. At 83, the Loomis resident still keeps very busy. He is involved in multiple organizations and runs a consulting business on water and hydroelectric power, the business temporarily shuttered because of the pandemic. In addition, Horton has rental properties and agricultural land. He does pro bono consulting, assisting individuals with private water issues. Then there's the family business, Horton Iris Garden. "It's my wife and kids' operation but, of course, I help," he said. Horton's wife, Mary Ann, grows more than 1,300 iris varieties on the farm, which attracts visitors from far and near during spring bloom time. Three of Horton's four children live nearby. And what about hobbies? "My hobby is the community," he said. "I spend most of my time conversing with other people. I enjoy people." Horton has deep roots in Placer County. He's not sure exactly when the family settled in Loomis but believes it was before the Gold Rush. There was no land ownership until after the Civil War. "So the only deed on the original 240 acres (of which 40 acres remain in the family) is signed by Ulysses S. Grant (U.S. president from 1869 to 1877)," Horton said. The house Horton lives in is on that land, built as a wedding gift for his grandmother. He spent the first couple of months of his life in that house and then moved back into it three decades or so ago. Horton grew up on English Colony Way in Penryn where his parents had an orchard. He was a student at Penryn Grammar School when World War II hit. Horton recalls how the student body dropped from 103 to 48 students after the Japanese American residents were sent to an internment camp. "We went through the scares of World War II. We were concerned at times," Horton said. "In the meantime, I went to Loomis Grammar for a couple of years. When the war ended, our friends came home and things got back to a new normal." Horton keeps in touch with friends he made in those early years. He went on to become an Eagle Scout and earned a degree in plant science from University of California at Davis. Horton looks back fondly on growing up locally, the friendships developed over the years and the mentors who guided him along the way. "The Loomis Basis has been a very calm enjoyable place to live," Horton said. "We've got a good education system. Many people move here for that. There are lots of nice people and good businesses." He has watched his hometown change over the decades. "Growth is inevitable in California and Loomis has had a good amount of growth," Horton said. "When I was young, the population was 400 and it seemed like it stayed that way for probably 20 years and then growth started. Now we are in the thousands." The longtime Loomis resident sees it as a mixed blessing. "California is a very attractive place to live weather-wise," Horton said. "We just keep attracting people. Should we slam the door and say no more? That does not work. Communities that do not allow a little bit of growth tend to grow the other way. Absolutely no growth is on the way to become a bit blighted. It happens over a long period of time. I'm not disappointed in what Loomis is today. But I see problems the community needs to address." In particular, he points out traffic congestion aggravated by the community being split in half by Interstate 80 and a main railroad line. "Without (resolving the traffic problems), a great resistance will continue toward any kind of infill activity that might occur here in town," Horton said. "I'm willing to pitch in and do anything I can to help but the community is going to have to get together and come up with solutions." Horton is a history buff and a Loomis Basin Historical Society member. "I read all the time. Anything I can get a hold of," Horton said. His focus recently has been the Lake Tahoe area because his grandfather and great-uncles ran a logging operation there from the late 1890s into the 1920s. They logged in the summer and harvested ice in the winter. "(Ice harvesting) was a big industry in the Truckee area until refrigeration came into being in the 1920s," he said. On a typical morning, you're likely to see Horton at the Raley's supermarket in Loomis. "I'm an early riser," Horton said. "I have my coffee and doughnut there. Lots of us meet there and discuss local community issues each day. Now we can't gather there any longer (because of the pandemic) so I sit in the parking lot and still communicate with our various friends, keeping a safe distance. I'm still involved and I love it and I enjoy it. I'm a people person."