THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Giving back — Rick Rasmussen's path to the North Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame: Giving to his community, as it gave to him
Rick Rasmussen tried to talk them out of inducting him into the North Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame.
But he was outnumbered.
As chair of the North Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame board of directors since 2015, Rasmussen is one of the people who votes on who gets into the hall of fame each year.
Not this time.
“I told them I didn’t want it,” Rasmussen said. “I am not worthy.”
“And they kinda went behind my back and voted me in.”
Finally, he relented — partially out of love for the event and what it stands for, and respect for one of the men who helped get it started in the first place.
Rick Rasmussen is going into the hall of fame because of what he has done for the community where he was born and raised — as a fundraiser for his alma mater (and others). As head of several sports organizations. As a youth sports coach. As the head man of a banquet which has ballooned in popularity over the past decade. As head of a hospital recently voted as best in the region.
So, Rick Rasmussen will be one of five people inducted this weekend, on Friday at the North Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame banquet, then recognized again Saturday at the North Idaho Sports Banquet, both at The Coeur d’Alene Resort.
“There are some pretty deserving candidates here, and I was outnumbered,” Rasmussen said. “I didn’t advocate for myself, for sure. I fought it as hard as I could.”
HOW DO you attach a win-loss record to what you’ve done for your community?
Rick Rasmussen was a very good athlete, growing up in Coeur d’Alene.
He played on the Vikings’ 1982 state championship football team, and was named first-team all-state as an offensive lineman. He was also on the school’s math team that won a state title. He was a thrower on the track team, coached by his father, Gary “Big Dad” Rasmussen, and placed in the shot put at state.
He played football briefly at Montana, until a broken foot brought an end to that career. He did the shot put, discus and javelin for the Griz, earning all-Big Sky honors in the shot put.
After graduating from Montana, Rasmussen returned to Coeur d’Alene, and was a high school football official for 20 years, working eight state championship games. He is a member of the North Idaho Officials Association Hall of Fame.
He’s been a member of the Coeur d’Alene High Booster Club since 1989.
“I’ve been the president for the last handful of years,” Rasmussen said. “I’ve been the treasurer. I’ve been a part of them raising over $5 million in almost 40 years on the board of the booster club, that my dad started.
“And what we’ve been able to give back — we don’t make any money off it ... and we do a lot of non-sports stuff. We do a lot with the band, and drama, and debate, and we help with the auditorium, and we help with the choir. It’s just helping 26 different extracurricular activities at CHS.”
He was president of the Kootenai Girls Softball Association — the youth softball organization which has produced so many great players over the years — for nine years.
He helped start the North Idaho Thunder club volleyball program. He’s coached Junior Tackle.
He’s on several boards, some of which have nothing to do with sports.
“I’m out helping the community. We give back; it’s what we do,” Rasmussen said. “It’s definitely my North Star, the community, and I want to help the community as much as I can. How can I give back to my community as much as it helped me? I just feel like I’m just a part of a lot of people doing this.”
Rasmussen graduated from Coeur d’Alene High in 1984. One of his brothers, Bryan “Bud” Rasmussen, is a teacher at CHS (the other brother, Steve, is a doctor living in Texas).
His wife, Sharyl (DeMills), played on the Viking girls basketball team that beat Sandpoint in overtime in a memorable state championship game in 1984, played before an overflow crowd at CHS.
Their two daughters played on state championship softball teams at CHS.
“I love being part of this community,” Rasmussen said. “I love being a part of Coeur d’Alene High School. Since my dad started there when the high school opened in 1972, and my brother teaches there now, and I went there and my kids went there and my wife went there. There’s been a Rasmussen in the hallways of Coeur d’Alene High School for 53 years ... it’s pretty cool to be able to give back to the school.”
Rick Rasmussen has been named Coeur d’Alene Citizen of the Year.
And Hayden Citizen of the Year.
And, most recently, Post Falls Citizen of the Year.
How does that happen?
“I live in Hayden. I work in Post Falls, and we have businesses in Coeur d’Alene,” Rasmussen said. “I don’t know how it all worked, but ... really just humbled by it all.”
FOR 25 years after getting out of college, Rasmussen worked for the L-P Corporation.
Then the company asked its employees to move to Nashville.
“I don’t want to move,” Rasmussen thought. “This is my hometown.”
He applied for a few jobs in the area, eventually getting on at Northwest Specialty Hospital in Post Falls in 2012. Two years later, he was promoted to Chief Executive Officer.
“That was never the plan, to be CEO at a hospital, but I love our community,” Rasmussen said. “We’ve grown, over 900 employees, we’re going to see over 375,000 patients, and when I started we had 80 employees and were seeing about 5,000 patients a year. Last week we got voted best hospital (in the North Idaho Business Journal).
“It’s just flooring to me. This guy from Coeur d’Alene High School, and the University of Montana, is running a hospital, the best hospital in the region ... it’s pretty awesome.”
UNDER RASMUSSEN’S watch, the North Idaho Sports Banquet has grown from an event drawing perhaps 300 to the Best Western Plus Coeur d’Alene Inn, to one which could draw close to 1,000 people, now at The Coeur d’Alene Resort.
Yes, Rasmussen is in charge, but as he says, “I’m a very good delegator,” and “we’ve got a phenomenal board.”
“We used to walk out of that thing at 11, 12 o’clock at night, and now we’re out by 9," he said. “We start on time and we finish on time ... we get enough sponsorships so no kid has ever had to pay to attend since we changed this format with our board now. I feel like we give it a first-class night to celebrate some phenomenal athletes.”
He especially enjoys seeing the excitement from the athletes and fans from the smaller towns in North Idaho.
“I think the whole city of Bonners Ferry is coming down to this banquet,” Rasmussen said, with Bonners celebrating its second straight state boys basketball title, and several of its players (and coach) up for awards.
He remembers when a St. Maries team showed up a few years ago, after a championship season.
“I went over to the table and said, ‘How many clip-ons?’” he asked. “And it was like four out of the 10 players had clip-ons (ties).”
When Rasmussen played football at Coeur d’Alene, one of his best friends was the quarterback, Scott Wellman, whose father, Roy, worked for years as publisher at several papers owned by Hagadone.
That’s how Rick met Duane Hagadone.
Along with former Press sports writer Bob Maker, Hagadone founded the North Idaho Sports Banquet, and Hagadone is in the North Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame, inducted in 1992. Hagadone passed away in 2021.
In addition to honoring North Idaho high school and college athletes and coaches, it was Rasmussen’s idea to start the Hagadone High Character Award, honoring one male and one female athlete from each high school in North Idaho, in 2021.
“I would have hoped that I would have had a shot at that when I was in high school,” Rasmussen said. “I was first-team all-state football player, and did track and shot put, but I wasn’t the star. But I felt like I had good character, I felt like I had good sportsmanship, was at every practice, I was a valedictorian in school ... there’s so much bad out there, we just thought, what a good way to honor ... these kids. And Mr. Hagadone loved the idea when I presented it to them.”
“BIG DAD” passed away in 2012, and was inducted into the North Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame in 2014.
At the induction, Rick Rasmussen spoke on his father's behalf.
“He was all about kids,” Rick said. “He would go out and raise money for the booster club. He would pay for kids’ prom dresses ... I don’t think I’ll ever hold a candle to him, but that’s what I strive for every day, to be able to help my community that’s been so giving to me and my family. There were so many people that didn’t know that he was my dad, because everybody called him ‘Big Dad.’ He had an open heart, and I try to do that, and he was all about kids, and making sure they got involved. He was a big believer that when you’re involved in sports, or rodeo, or debate, or drama, that you’re better kids. That’s the same thing I try to do at the hospital. We love kids that have been in sports, or part of teams — we think they’re better workers.
“I saw my dad do a lot of stuff for people that nobody knew about. You just do the right thing.”
Rick said his mom, Lois, was “the most organized person you ever met,” and noted how that trait rubbed off on him as well.
“I still can’t believe I’m in there,” Rick Rasmussen said of going into the North Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame. “You have a first-round draft pick from the NFL (Mike Iupati, former Idaho star); you have Bart (Templeman), who played in the NFL, coached probably 50 state champions (in the throws) ... Jim Winger, who had an undefeated season, pitched in college, umpired; if he wanted to, could have gone to the big leagues as an umpire ... Debbie (Buchanan, formerly Debbie Martin, of St. Maries), one of the best volleyball players to come out of the state of Idaho ...
"I don’t feel worthy of this group for sure.”
Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 1205, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @CdAPressSports.
Rick Rasmussen