Tom Angleberger

The New River Valley-based reporter answers your questions Mondays in his column, What's on Your Mind?

Recent columns

• Topping trees puts them at great risk
• A sweet taste of local history
• What did old railway station look like?
• Readers dish out insights on hang gliding
• Help me answer readers' questions
• Mountain road was closed recently

Wow, the answers to last week's Ask the Readers questions have come pouring in, proving once again that not only are my readers smart, but they're also eager to help.

And nowhere has the spirit of helpfulness been more evident than in the matter of pawpaw bushes. One of my readers, Bill King, wanted to know where he could find some. Can you believe that readers called up to invite King over to their yards to gather pawpaw fruits? In this day and age?

In fact, one reader even offered to let the man come over and DIG UP some young pawpaw seedlings, which he called "suckers." (I'll pass his name on to Mr. King privately, so that hordes of pawpaw lovers don't show up at his house tonight with shovels.) Other readers let me know that pawpaw plants can be found in the wild (but check before you go digging them up from public parkland; often there are rules against taking plants). The fruits will ripen about the end of July, Ruth Bates tells me.

If you'd like to try a pawpaw tree that's already off to a good start and is ready to plant in your yard, you can try a nursery.

"We have them available in 3 gallon pots," offered Mike Quesinberry of Slaughters' Garden Center in Floyd. "You need to plant two for pollination purposes."

Several readers also recommended a place near Charlottesville called Edible Landscapes. Various online and catalog retailers also have them.

But wait a minute! What's all the fuss about? What exactly is a pawpaw?

Sandra Maxwell gave me this description: "The fruit's like a banana. The taste is a peculiar custard, and to me they were yucky, but some people like them."

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Speaking of helpful people, Linda Albert at Purrfect Treasures may have the Dormeyer kitchen mixer beaters that reader Theresa Hixon wanted. In fact, the store, which supports the Franklin County Planned Pethood Clinic, has the whole mixer. When Albert read last week's article, she set it aside for Hixon.

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Another reader had a different problem. Instead of looking for something, they were trying to get rid of a set of encyclopedias without having to fill a landfill with them.

Frankly, I thought no one could possibly want them, but I was wrong. Jeff Willis, the librarian at the Pulaski Correctional Center, wants them, provided they're not too old.

"As you may know the state's budget is tight and our most recent set is from 1989," he wrote in an e-mail.

"So if I could perhaps get a complete and newer set than what we now have, I would be very interested."

And Langston's Books in Bedford will accept encyclopedias of any vintage -- or any other type of old book, for that matter. For more information, call Dave Langston at 818-8895.

Other readers suggested that the books might be desired by interior decorators, home schoolers, scrapbookers or crafters. To connect with the right person, one reader suggested that you "freecycle" them, by which I think she meant posting a notice on the Roanoke section of the Freecycle.org network.

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I've got more of your answers coming up soon, including the lowdown on Q'Pid's Pizza and the Normandy Inn. But there are a few things I could use some more information about.

Readers seem to agree that the fondly remembered canned meat was Smithfield Ham Spread. But does anyone know where to get it?

I've heard some different theories about how Ballyhack got its name. Anybody else got one?

I'm hoping the hang glider who may have made the leap from Masons Knob will call back and leave me a little more information.

And I still haven't heard from anyone who'll admit to having a cookout on one of the grills at an interstate rest stop.

If you have any of these answers or more questions, please join in.

E-mail replies are best. Send your answer, name and location to whatsonyourmind@roanoke.com. If you'd rather call, please leave a message on my voicemail at 777-6476. Please be sure to speak clearly and tell me your answer first, then give your name, the spelling of your name and your phone number and your answer. You don't need to read me the original question, I'll figure it out.

Look for Tom Angleberger's column on Mondays.