Benefit to help musician

Bill Rasmussen fell asleep on his sofa watching “Wheel of Fortune” last month and awoke coughing and choking to find his house near Plummer, Idaho, filled with smoke.

Within two days of losing his home to the Jan. 16 fire, Rasmussen, 59, was back to doing what he does best: making others happy.

Left with nothing more than the clothes he was wearing and two sets of prosthetic arms, Rasmussen has returned to local assisted-living centers to play keyboard and sing for seniors, just as he has for years.

“He has such an awesome attitude, and he’s such an inspiration,” said Cheri Thaut, who has helped organize a benefit fundraiser for Rasmussen. The event, scheduled for 1 to 7 p.m. Sunday at Lakeside Middle School in Plummer, will include live music, an auction and a spaghetti feed.

Though Rasmussen quickly returned to playing keyboard, Thaut said the devastation of the fire took its toll on him.

“He had a real hard time,” she said. “He lost the sparkle in his eye for a while and the smile on his face.”

Rasmussen, who lost both arms more than 35 years ago in a bizarre accident involving a power line, lost several pairs of prosthetics in the fire. He tried to bring all his artificial arms outside but didn’t get them far enough away from the heat of the fire.

Rasmussen modified the prosthetics over the years to enable him to perform different tasks. He put hammers on one pair so he could drive nails. Another was equipped with saws he used to build his modest home just outside of Plummer.

“I’m not without arms,” he said. “Just the arms I built that place with went up.”

What Rasmussen misses most, though, are the mementos and gifts he collected over the years from appreciative fans. Like the paint-by-numbers picture a quadriplegic woman painted for Rasmussen using her teeth. It took her a year to finish the painting, he said. “She did a fantastic job on it.”

Rasmussen said he’s been overwhelmed by the generosity people have shown. The owners of Beehive Homes, where he performs regularly, have provided somewhere for him to live – an apartment at their Pinehurst, Idaho, assisted-living center.

“I’ve had so many offers of help that I don’t know what to do,” Rasmussen said.

Owner Gary Ghramm said Rasmussen is “a wonderful guy to be around.”

He said some of the residents at Beehive Homes get tears in their eyes when Rasmussen performs for them. “They totally fall in love with him,” Ghramm said. “He’s just a humble guy who hasn’t let life beat him down.”