Doug Elliott and a Groundhog Friend

Whether he's singing about catfish, telling wild snake tales or wailing out a lively harmonica tune, storyteller and naturalist Doug Elliott takes audiences on an engaging tour of the Southern Appalachian bioregion.

Elliott will bring his popular program "Woodslore and Wildwoods Wisdom" to UNC Asheville's Reuter Center at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 22. The show will feature an entertaining mix of music, traditional lore, personal narratives and natural history. Tickets are $15 at the door.

Elliott has performed and presented programs at festivals, museums, botanical gardens, nature centers and schools from Canada to the Caribbean. He has been a featured storyteller at the National Storytelling Festival, has lectured and performed at the American Museum of Natural History and at the Royal Ontario Museum, and has conducted workshops for the Smithsonian Institution. He has led ranger training sessions for the National Park Service and guided people in the wilderness from down-east Maine to the Florida Everglades. Elliott was named harmonica champion at Fiddler's Grove Festival in Union Grove, N.C., and is the author of four books and a number of award-winning albums of stories and songs.

The event is sponsored by the Blue Ridge Naturalist Program, an education program of the North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement.

For more information about this event or the Blue Ridge Naturalist Program, call Mike McCreary at 828/251-6198 or email mmccrear@unca.edu.