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S E R V I N G H E N D R I C K S C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 4 7
Volume 140, Number 37 Thursday, September 16, 2021 Published Weekly in Danville, Indiana
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Prairie Mazeat McCloud
It happens only once every 17 years, so McCloud Nature Park in honors the cicada this year with the McCloud Prairie Maze!
These periodical insects spend most of their lives a foot or two underground eating sap from tree roots. Then, in the spring of their 17th year, mature nymphs emerge from the ground by the billions over select parts of the eastern United States, shed their exoskeleton, and inflate their wings for their brief stage as an adult.
The adult male cicadas fill the air with calls for a mate, using tymbals on each side of their abdomens to create the high-pitched sound. Their songs are answered by the adult females with a clicking of their wings. The result is a loud symphony that lasts about three to four weeks. Four to six weeks after emerging from the ground, the insects die.
Cicadas look like some sort of alien, but they don’t bite or sting or carry disease. They are actually good for the environment! Cicadas aerate the ground when they emerge, they are a plentiful food source for a wide variety of birds and animals, and their carcasses enrich the soil with nutrients as they decompose.
Celebrate the 2021 cicadas with a trip through the cicada-themed prairie maze. Be sure to dress for the weather, wear comfortable closed-toe shoes, and bring some water. Bring the nymphs, too, as this maze is appropriate for all ages!
Admission to McCloud Nature Park and the prairie maze is absolutely FREE, and both are open from dawn to dusk daily. To access the prairie maze, park in the Nature Center parking lot. Maps to the maze are available in the kiosk outside of the Nature Center, as well as in the kiosk at the entrance to the maze.
McCloud Nature Park is located at 8518 Hughes Road, North Salem.
Make sure to explore the McCloud Prairie Maze by October 31 because after that, we won’t see a Brood X cicada again until 2038!
Scarecrows!
On Saturday, October 2, the court house yard in Danville will turn into a world of clever, funny and sometimes scary creations as the Downtown Danville Partnership hosts Scarecrows on the Square during the month of October.
Witch Way Did They Go?
Two trendy witches posed on a bench as they watched the visitors to last year’s Scarecrow Festival on Danville’s Court House Square. The display returns in 2021 for the month of October.
Individuals, families, businesses or organizations are invited to participate for only $10 per entry.
Displays may include more than one scarecrow, with straw bales, corn stalks, and other items that add to your scarecrow theme. Creativity is encouraged!
Scarecrows/displays must be delivered and installed on the courthouse square on Saturday, October 2, between 9 a.m. and noon. Check-in will be near the fountain. Scarecrow location will be assigned.
Judges will select 1st, 2nd, & 3rd place on Saturday, October 2. Winners will be announced at Scares on the Square Friday, October 29.
Displays must be able to withstand inclement weather conditions. You may be contacted to repair your display.
No political/controversial displays.
Displays may be dismantled any time on Saturday, October 30.
Details about Scares on the Square on October 29 will be announced soon.
For more information or to download an entry form visit https://discoverdowntowndanville.org/product/ scarecrow-festival/
3 Local Arts Programs Receive Grants
Three local arts organizations were among 378 nonprofits to receive American Rescue Plan Act funds through the Indiana Arts Commission.
Receiving grants of $3,000 each were Hendricks Symphonic Society; Hendricks Civic Theater; and The Children’s Ballet.
The Arts Recovery Program panelists assessed each applicant’s ability to advance the arts, provide relevant activities and access to the arts and to operate through June 2022.
The grants support items such as salary, facilities, health and safety supplies for staff and/or audiences, and Marketing an promotion costs.
The Indiana Arts Commission (IAC) is an agency of State Government funded by the Indiana General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
Cooking With Instant Pot
Hendricks Co. Extension Homemaker, Lynn Lillard, will demonstrate cooking with an Instant Pot at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, September 21, at the Hendricks County Fairgrounds and on Facebook live. She will share the benefits of using an Instant Pot, safe practices to follow, and provide recipes to get you started and keep you going.
Lynn Lillard also won the Grand Prize at the County Fair’s 2021 Home & Family Arts Chocolate Contest sponsored by Homemakers and the Hendricks Power Cooperative.
Homemakers are offering the Chocolate Contest Recipe Book for $2. It is available in the Extension Office at the Fairgrounds and at the Instant Pot demonstration on September 21.
The Fairgrounds is located at 1900 E Main Street, Danville, Indiana.
SWCD Hosts Fall Tree Sale
Now is the best time to plant new and replacement trees. For peak post-planting performance, container-grown trees are the bestoption.
Well-developed root structures and minimal planting shock, combined with locally grown native species, are key factors.
Those best-choice trees are available from the annual Soil & Water Conservation District fall tree sale.
Orders are accepted through Sept. 23; all trees and understory shrubs are $25 each. Choose from 24 species grown in three-gallon containers, ranging from American Plum to Scarlet Oak, to Elderberry.
A completed order form and full payment are to be sent to the Hendricks County SWCD, 195 Meadow Dr., Ste. 2, Danville, IN 46122. Make checks payable to Hendricks County SWCD.
Proceeds help fund local district programs including clean water and soil conservation efforts.
Call the district office with questions, (317) 745- 2555, ext. 3.
A downloadable order form and species list is found at the district website,annual-tree-sale.
Museum Hosts 4 th Road Rally
The Hendricks County Historical Museum is hosting its 4th annual Road Rally on Saturday, October 12.
Participants will navigate through beautiful countryside, answer questions, see magnificent old homes and go places they have never been before!
Plan to meet in the Museum’s parking lot, 170 S. Washington Street, south of the Danville Courthouse, at 8:30 a.m.; at 9 a.m., the first car heads out!
Bring the $10 registration fee, clipboard and pen, compass and a sense of adventure! Everyone should arrive back at the Museum around 12:30. Plan to visit the Museum and meet for lunch afterwards. Prizes will be award for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finishers.
For more information, visit www.hendrickscountymuseum.org.
John Ruskin
National Merit Semifinalists
The following local students were named as Semifinalists in the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program. These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $30 million that will be offered next spring.
Avon: Nicholas J. Detwiler,(Homeschool)
Brownsburg: Gaitonde Anagh; Adam T. Jessee; Cy Logan; Brayde Walters, Joshua Litz (Homeschool).
Danville: Abraham L. Means.
Plainfield: Madeline S. Beebe; William W. Rulon; Cooper W. Springs; Harrison D. Woodruff.
Homemakers Offer Teacher Grants
Hendricks County Homemakers offer a $100 grant to qualified teacher applicants in Hendricks County. All applicants must be submitted by the 15th of each month and will be awarded at the discretion of the grant committee. To download an application, go to https://extension. purdue.edu/hendricks/article/2332
Applications can be mailed to: HCEH Grant Commitee, PO Box 7, Danville, IN 46122. Applications can also be submitted electronically to pitts15@purdue.edu.
Indiana Lyons Count on Ladies’ Aid
Indiana Lyons owner and CEO brought some back up to Fair on the Square last weekend to help promote Hendricks County’s own American Basketball League team. The girls are just part of the behind-the-scenes talent that helped the Lyons advance to the Final 8 in last year’s ABA Tournament. More about the upcoming season for the Lyons in this issue.
Invasives Management Group Workshop at Brownsburg
Hendricks County Invasives Management Cooperative welcomes all interested persons to a Saturday afternoon meeting, September 18, from 2-3:30 p.m., at the Williams Park outdoor classroom in Brownsburg.
The meeting is designed to inform and enlist new volunteer members in the countywide effort to combat widespread invasive plant species.
Retired Indiana Department of Natural Resources botanist/plant ecologist Michael Homoya will describe the impact of invasive exotic plants on native plant communities and emphasize the importance of managing them.
Widely published, Homoya is an adjunct faculty member in the biology departments at IUPUI and Marian University.
The event includes an invasive plant identification walk and demonstrations of invasive control techniques.
The outdoor classroom is at 710 Alpha Ave. in Brownsburg.
