PULLMAN, Wash. –The good wishes of more than 1,900 enthusiastic Washington State University football fans collected at WSU Cooperative Extension offices around the state will be presented to the team at a Tuesday afternoon pep rally in Los Angeles.
“We are delighted with the number of supporters who took time out of their busy holiday schedules to visit our offices and express their support of the Cougars,” said Sally Horton, associate director of WSU Cooperative Extension.
Signatures were collected on scrolls and cards by 27 extension offices during a 10 day period before Christmas. They will be presented at a pep rally scheduled for 4 p.m. at ABC Entertainment Studios, Century City.
The largest turnout was in Yakima County where between 500 and 600 people signed WSU Rose Bowl scrolls.
“Our biggest sign-up was on Saturday, Dec. 20, when we had a table and display set up in the downtown Yakima Mall,” said Don Chaplin, chair of the WSU Yakima County Cooperative Extension office. “There were a lot of enthusiastic Cougars, young and old, Christmas shopping that day. They were more than eager to sign the scrolls and support the Cougars.”
Signers included a local veterinarian who helped raise the last living Cougar mascot, Butch VII, while a student in the WSU College of Veterinary Medicine.
More than 400 people signed the scroll in the WSU Skagit County Cooperative Extension office in Mount Vernon, including one “true blue” University of Washington graduate who signed it “a temporary Cougar.”
The Cooperative Extension office in Asotin County collected between 70 and 80 signatures, most during a joint open house with the Hells Canyon Division of the U.S. Forest Service. Signers included local farmers, businessmen, local officials, former WSU faculty and alumni from both WSU and the University of Idaho.
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