Cougar colors come out on top in charity fundraising contest

The top of Seattle's beloved Space Needle will be crimson and gray — as in Washington State University's crimson and gray — for Apple Cup weekend.

The University of Washington Huskies came up short in a 14-day challenge to see which school could raise the most money to help Habitat for Humanity rebuild hurricane-damaged homes in the Gulf Coast states.

The schools had been locked in the daily competition, called "Tackling Hurricane Relief."

Contest results were released Tuesday. WSU's total was $97,947; the UW's was $66,346. All told, $164,293.62 was raised for Habitat for Humanity. Contest coordinators said the contest attracted 2,764 donors.

Each day for the past two weeks, the Needle's flagpole has sported the colors of the winner from the previous day. Washington State dominated, and its colors flew 11 days. The Huskies' purple-and-gold flag waved two days. Last Friday, the American flag flew in honor of Veterans Day.

The Space Needle roof will be crimson and gray and sport WSU's logo, plus the message "Go Cougars!" throughout this weekend, when the annual Apple Cup match between the two schools on opposite sides of the state will be played. The roof painting is already under way.

"Although we'll probably get more than a few phone calls about the roof being crimson and gray this week, we're very proud of this program and what the Huskies and the Cougars accomplished together," said Dean Nelson, the Space Needle's head man.

In its building program, Habitat plans to pre-build parts of houses across the country, then ship those parts to devastated areas to be assembled.

Here at home, the Apple Cup football game between the Dawgs and the Cougs is scheduled for a 12:15 p.m. kickoff Saturday at Husky Stadium.