Circus elephant will catch footballs

YOUNGSTOWN

A 10,000-pound elephant will show off his pass-catching skills Thursday afternoon at Covelli Centre.

Kelly Ann, a pachyderm who is part of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus, will catch footballs thrown by Youngstown State University football coach Eric Wolford, former YSU quarterback Kurt Hess and local media sportscasters.

The free event, which is open to the public, will be in the Covelli parking lot at 2 p.m. For each pass that the elephant catches, a child from the Making Kids Count program will receive tickets to one of the eight circus performances Friday through Monday at Covelli.

Tickets to the circus start at $14 and are available at the arena box office or by calling 800-745-3000. Show times are 7 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; and 7 p.m. Monday.