Syracuse.com - Dedicated worker makes Webster Pond his mission

[HuntingNY-News]

By Melissa Siegel Contributing writer Chad Norton is all about maintaining and improving Webster Pond’s reputation as “nature’s best-kept secret.” Norton, 25, is vice president of the Anglers Association of Onondaga, a non-profit group that is based at the pond courtesy of a long-term lease with the city of Syracuse. The 95-acre pond/nature sanctuary, with fish and wildlife as... Jim Commentucci / The Post-Standard Chad Norton, vice president of the Anglers Association of Onondaga, pauses for a photograph Wednesday at Webster Pond in Syracuse. Norton comes to the pond every day to take care of it and help the public enjoy it.By Melissa Siegel Contributing writer Chad Norton is all about maintaining and improving Webster Pond’s reputation as “nature’s best-kept secret.”Norton, 25, is vice president of the Anglers Association of Onondaga, a non-profit group that is based at the pond courtesy of a long-term lease with the city of Syracuse. The 95-acre pond/nature sanctuary, with fish and wildlife as the main attraction, is located off Valley Drive.Norton is in charge of the pond’s various activities, including the junior and adult fishing programs.His father, Bill, is president of the association. But it’s the younger Norton, born with cerebral palsy, who’s at the pond in his wheelchair every day.“I know how much people in the Valley love this landmark and have been coming here for many years,” he said. “I really just wanted something to do. I don’t want to be a vegetable stuck in the house. I want to be able to take this whole thing and turn it around into something that the public and the community can enjoy.”The young Norton’s affiliation with the pond goes back to when he was 10 years old. At that time, he pressed to become a board member of the Anglers Association but was told he was too young. Instead, the board named him an honorary member.The youngster continued to press the issue and eventually got on the board. While still a teen, he talked to Pat Driscoll, then the city parks commissioner, and convinced him to have the city donate various services to Webster Pond, the elder Norton recalled. Those services included providing trash cans and portable restrooms.The Anglers Association of Onondaga was formed in 1890 by “local sportsmen who were angered over the pollution and exploitation of fish in Oneida Lake,” according to the association’s website. “The association back then paid for game wardens, which the state back then could not provide. Pressure from the area businessmen and the Syracuse Newspapers prompted New York state to find funding for permanent wardens a few years later.”Today, the 250-member association is based at and limits most of its activities to Webster Pond. Its objective, as stated on its website, is: “The protection of fish in the waters, game in the fields, and song and insectivorous birds in the fields and forest of Onondaga County for the benefit of all people.”Chad Norton is dedicated to his work. He’s there every day from 8:30 a.m. to nearly 10 p.m., working out of the pond’s office, with the help of two aides. He’s proud of the fact that he has not missed a day of work since graduating from Corcoran High School in 2005.“I will never stop coming,” he said. “I love it down here. I’m not about me. I’m about making the public happy, making this place run the best that it can.”Norton and his father oversee the pond’s two fishing programs. The junior angling program has been going on for years and is open to youth ages 7 to 15. It runs from the first Saturday in April to the last Saturday in September. Youngsters pay $10 to join. Trophies are awarded at the end of the season at a banquet for those catching the biggest bass and trout. The youngsters can catch and keep two trout per week of any size.The father and son established the adult fishing program (ages 16 and up) in 2010. It carries an annual $15 fee.They know all about the benefits of fishing, the elder Norton said. It was activities like fishing that helped the two bond and cope after Chad’s mother died of cancer in 2003.The pond is stocked with rainbow trout, bass and a few carp. The biggest fish to come out of Webster Pond?“In my time of being here, one of the juniors caught a 27½-inch, 7.5-pound rainbow trout,” he said.Other activities at the pond include student field trips, arts and craft shows, band concerts and visits by various groups such as the Muscular Dystrophy Association and local veterans.The pond includes a nature trail complete with handicapped accessible bridges and benches for resting. Originally, folks would buy and dedicate a bench along the pond to loved ones. When there became too many benches, Chad came up with the idea for a program that allows people to buy personalized bricks in a garden in front of the association, near the pond.He also created a Webster Pond website after taking a computer course at ITT Technical Institute in Liverpool. He said it took him a year to complete as he only has the use of one of his 10 fingers — the pointer finger on his right hand.Norton said the association does a lot to keep the songbirds and waterfowl around the pond happy.“We do feed our birds, “ he said “We go through 80,000 pounds a year in corn. And we pay for it solely with donations.”Outdoors editor David Figura contributed to this story.

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