Carlsbad will soon have a beautiful new sculpture on display, and it will be of one of our most accomplished citizens. John Wooten was a football standout who spent much of his career with the Cleveland Browns, where he blocked for the legendary Jim Brown. However, many of Wooten’s most incredible accomplishments either were outside of his football career, or came after his initial career playing with the NFL concluded. He has devoted his life toward the civil rights effort, and he has achieved remarkable success.
Wooten was invited by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to attend President Johnson’s signing of the 1965 Civil Rights Bill. He was directly involved in the formation of the “Rooney Rule” with the NFL and the creation of the Fritz Pollard Alliance. He has always said that he feels blessed to have grown up in Carlsbad, where individuals such as Coach Ralph Bowyer, Tom Hanson and Guy Waid advocated for the early integration of Carlsbad High School.
Over the past few months, Wren Prather-Stroud has been working on a beautiful sculpture of Wooten. This sculpture was made possible through the generosity of Bob Jornayvaz III, Bob Forrest and Dick Forrest. In late September, Wooten and his wife, Juanita, plan to join us at the dedication of this sculpture. Please stay tuned for details, as we hope you’ll be joining us.
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We’ve had a great summer at the Carlsbad Water Park, thanks to our great lifeguard staff and water park manager Luke Garza. Our lifeguards often work long hours to ensure everyone’s safety, but everything has been positive. There’s also a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes running a water park, such as making sure the levels of chlorine are right. Everyone at the water park has done an outstanding job this summer.
As a reminder, due to school being in session, the Carlsbad Water Park will soon be moving into its “Late Summer Schedule.” The last weekday that the water park is open in 2023 will be Friday, Aug. 4. After that the water park will only be open on Saturdays and Sundays. For example, the park will be closed Aug. 7-11, but open again on Aug. 12 and 13. The good news is that the park will remain open through much of the fall. Our last weekend day this year will be Sunday, Oct. 1. Water park hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and admission to the park is $5. We know that the Boys & Girls Club is preparing a big visit to the water park this weekend, and we wish them the best.
Sincerely,
Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway