When Chad Norton looks out over Webster Pond in Syracuse’s Valley neighborhood, he sees a very different pond than the one he came to know growing up.
Pathways around the pond have been cleared and made accessible. New fencing has been constructed for safety. Memorial benches dot the trails.
“When I first started here I said ‘I’m going to make it fully handicap accessible, because so many places nowadays are not, and so many people don’t care,’” Norton said.
Norton has been a driving force for the pond’s success. Since accessibility improvements were added to the pond, it has seen triple the attendance, Norton said. Marisa Husein, a longtime volunteer with the pond, met Norton nearly two decades ago. The improvements brought on by Norton’s drive have remade the pond.
In April, the pond received yet another honor: elected officials voted to honor Webster Pond’s 65th anniversary. Norton helped set the commemoration in motion. He wrote a request to city officials for an honorary street sign. On April 24, city officials, Norton’s friends and family and more showed up for the street sign’s unveiling. It reads “Webster Pond Pkwy” and sits above the street sign for Valley Drive.
“We get a lot more done now,” Husein said of Norton. “We have money for improvements, money for corn, for the bills. Chad makes it beautiful. Everything we get goes to the pond. I don’t think it’d be that way if he wasn’t there.”
Webster Pond’s journey to its 65th birthday has been a harried one. It was created as a home for the Anglers Association of Onondaga. The association had been formed in 1890 to protect and preserve fish and game within the county.
According to a history put together by the association that runs Webster Pond, the pond’s history begins in 1960. The Anglers Association of Onondaga was then located on Oneida Lake. Poachers set fire to the Anglers Association’s headquarters, angry about citations handed out by the association.
The association settled on Webster Pond for its new home after its former home burned down. Webster Pond was at the time slated for use as a landfill or a low-rise housing complex.
When Norton began visiting Webster Pond about 30 years ago, he never envisioned that he would become such a central part of maintaining the area for the community.
Norton, 10 years old at the time, wanted to be a part of the anglers association but was denied due to his age. He continued to show up to volunteer for the next several years until he was put on the association’s board.
He worked his way up and was elected vice president in 2008. He remains in that position today. Since becoming vice president, Norton has made considerable changes to the pond through his advocacy and fundraising. In 2014, he started Friends of Wildlife, a non-profit organization focused on maintaining the pond and fundraising for new accessibility improvements. The organization has received many donations, including an in-kind donation from Saunders Quarry of $50,000 worth in stone to help construct a wheelchair accessible trail.
Accessibility is a personal issue for Norton, who has cerebral palsy and spastic quadriplegia.
“It gives me great pleasure to know that anybody of any ability can come down here,” Norton said. “It’s fairly accessible for all and that was my umbrella goal, and we accomplished that”
Norton guided Webster Pond through one of its most difficult times. One morning in 2021, Norton found the pond’s main office had been broken into and around $3,000 worth of damage was done. Norton’s laptop and the pond’s donation box had been stolen. So much bleach had been poured over the animal feed that the floors had to be replaced.
“All I could think of the entire time was ‘everything that I worked for is no longer’” Norton recounted with tears in his eyes.
By the next day, a community organized fundraiser had raised over $10,000 to put towards repairs.
“We came out better and it showed us how important we really are,” Norton said.
The pond has been a source of peace and independence for Norton. He oversees several adult- and junior-level fishing classes. Norton plans gatherings for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, fishing days for the Syracuse VA Medical Center and field trips for local schools and trail tours.
Norton said that while his cerebral palsy can be physically limiting, the pond helps him stay active. He gets joy from seeing third- and fourth-generation families visiting and enjoying the pond.
Norton hopes to take care of Webster Pond for many more years, he said.
“To see the people, the kids, the families, third and fourth generation families, the friends, the relatives, the able-bodied and non able-bodied, just everybody enjoying themselves,” Norton said, “It’s a great thing.”
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