Paw Paws on tap at McCloud Nature Park

NORTH SALEM --- McCloud Nature Park will host a program on Saturday, Aug. 24, about one of its best-kept secret tasty treats -- the Indiana banana.

Visitors should meet the naturalist in the Nature Center at 2 p.m. to learn about the fruit of the Paw Paw tree.

This under-discovered delicacy could be growing in anyone's backyard. Learn how the tree grows, produces fruit, reproduces and why native wildlife devour this delicacy as soon as it ripens.

If the park residents haven't eaten them all, participants will be able to taste a paw paw from the park and take home some recipes for this fruit.

The free program is designed for all ages and will last an hour.

McCloud Nature Park is operated by Hendricks County Parks and Recreation and is located five minutes south of North Salem at 8518 N. Hughes Rd.

Admission is free and the park is open from dawn to dusk daily. The Nature Center's hours are Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 1-5 p.m.

For more information on McCloud Nature Park and park programs, persons may call the Hendricks County Parks and Recreation main office at 317-718-6188 or visit the website at www.hendrickscountyparks.org.