Hometown Pride Tour: Honoring Pete Horton

NOCONA, Texas (KAUZ) - The City of Nocona is highlighting a member of the community who may have put the city on the map during their Mardi Gras Nocona Style celebration.

The Nocona Chamber of Commerce is honoring the late Pete Horton, someone they said made Nocona known for it’s classic car museum. Horton passed away last year, but residents said he uplifted the city in many ways.

This will be the first year that Nocona celebrates Mardi Gras without Horton and a local developer said they’ll do their best to manage.

This year during the Mardi Gras ball Horton will be honored for having a infectious smile and a heart of gold.

“We’ve got the lanyards of smiley face beads and Horton was smiling. This was one of his trademarks he loved smiles and that’s why we dedicated the ball to him,” Former Director of Nocona Chamber of Commerce Cheryl Johnson said.

Residents believe there’s no doubt Mardi Gras will feel different this year.

“It’s not gonna be easy for sure but we’re gonna try to have a great Mardi Gras because he’s looking down on us,” Johnson said.

Johnson said Nocona was Horton’s “happy” place, and that seeing others happiness was one of his greatest pleasures in life.

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