Melaleuca V.P. Damond Watkins in hospital following plane crash Thursday near I.F.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Damond Watkins and his family. Watkins, 40, vice president of corporate relations at Melaleuca, suffered a broken back in a plane crash Thursday afternoon about one mile south of Idaho Falls Regional Airport.

Watkins' father, Dane Watkins Sr., told the Idaho Statesman that his son was scheduled for surgery at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls at 11 a.m. Friday. He said he was told the procedure was expected to last four or five hours.

Watkins is Melaleuca's representative to the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry, and he was returning from an IACI meeting in Boise when the crash occurred. 

Smart PJ's selected by Wal-Mart as contest finalist

We've been following Juan Murdoch and his Smart PJ's since last December. The scannable pajamas for kids have been featured on "Today" and Good Morning America."

Thursday we learned they have been selected by Wal-Mart as a finalist in its "Get on the Shelf" contest.

I was at Walmart.com headquarters in San Francisco last week and got the opportunity to pitch Smart PJ's to Walmart's buyers on camera!" said Murdoch, a real estate agent for Keller Williams East Idaho who got his idea at a training session on QR tags. "What a cool experience! Now that I'm a finalist, I will be needing your votes to get Smart PJ's on Walmart's shelf! Voting will take place when my episode airs in a couple weeks. ... Stay tuned for the date and time!"

To vote for Smart PJ's, follow this link: https://getontheshelf.walmart.com/

Grand Teton Brewing offers 100 percent Idaho ale

Grand Teton Brewing Co. has released its Ale 208 Session Ale, brewed with 100 percent Idaho-grown grain, hops and pure Idaho spring water. The package imagery is inspired by and pays tribute to Idaho’s agricultural heritage and diversity.

“As broad and far reaching as this state is, we are all still Idaho,” said Steve Furbacher the company's president, CEO and owner, in a press release.  “We at Grand Teton Brewing are proud of the product we produce. We strive to bring you some of the best beer you can find.”

Founded in 1988 by Charlie Otto as the first modern microbrewery in the state of Wyoming, Grand Teton Brewing Co. now calls Victor home. The company is housed in an 11,000 square-foot building that includes production and packaging facilities, walk-in cold storage and warm conditioning as well as a pub, which serves as both a tasting room and retail shop.

The brewery was bought by Steve and Ellen Furbacher in April 2009.  Since then, the Furbachers have made significant changes to the brewery – adding much needed brewing equipment, fixing the bottling line and growing local events.  Production has more than doubled, from 4,900 barrels to 10,000 barrels annually, and California has gone from a tiny share to Grand Teton Brewing’s largest market. Overall the brewery's beers are sold in California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

The Grand Teton facility houses a 30-barrel brew house where all beers are brewed, along with 970 barrels of fermenting tanks in the cellar, allowing for both ale and lager production.  Grand Teton bottles and packages all beer in-house and recently upgraded its 1920s and 1950s labeler and filler for much newer equipment.

Chef Shane's Perspective opens in Sagewood Plaza

Shane and Giani O'Dell in their new restaurant, Chef Shane's Perspective, which opened Tuesday.

A new restaurant, Chef Shane's Perspective, has opened in Sagewood Plaza 3, 3192 E. 25th, near Jimmy John's.

Shane and Giani O'Dell had a soft opening Tuesday night and are now serving lunch and dinner Tuesday through Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday brunch, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., will start Sept. 28.

The lunch menu features soups, salads, sandwiches and wraps. Dinner leans more toward fine dining. O'Dell said he is trying to use local ingredients as much as possible and that the dinner menu will change with the seasons. The restaurant seats about 35 people.

For more information, visit their Facebook page at Chef Shane's Perspective. Or call (208) 932-2727.

Trainer to speak Thursday at first I.F. Ad Fed 'Lunch and Learn'

Troy Chipps

The Idaho Falls Advertising Federation will have its kick-off Lunch and Learn Thursday at noon at Dixie's Diner.

The speaker will be Troy Chipps of Prisma Training & Development.

Sign-in for lunch begins at 11:30 a.m. The presentation will run from noon to 1 p.m.
Cost is $12 for Ad Fed members and $15 for non-members.

If you plan to attend, RSVP to lisa@mightymcs.com. For more information about Prisma Training & Development, visit this link: http://www.prismatraining.com/

Museum of Idaho to screen 'Wrecking Crew' documentary Sept. 26 at Colonial

"The Wrecking Crew," a film by Denny Tedesco, will be shown Thursday, Sept. 26, at the Colonial Theater at 7 p.m. The director will answer questions after the screening, which is being presented by the Museum of Idaho, Chesbro Music and the Idaho Falls Arts Council. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students with ID, and are available online at www.idahofallsarts.org.

You may never have heard of Tommy Tedesco, but it's a safe bet you've heard him.

Tedesco was probably the most prolific session guitarist of the '60s and '70s and a mainstay of a group nicknamed "The Wrecking Crew," the focus of a documentary about an aspect of musical history few people know about.

While the Monkees were pilloried for not playing on their own records, the fact is in Los Angeles no one did. Not the Beach Boys, The Association, Paul Revere and the Raiders, etc.

"The group could have made a good record, but it would have taken a day," said Mark Lindsay, lead singer of Paul Revere and the Raiders. "These guys could do it in an hour, and in those days time was money. A record that was made on Tuesday would be on the radio the following week."

The film is directed by Denny Tedesco, Tommy Tedesco's son, who started showing it at film festivals in 2008. Tedesco started the film in 1996, after his dad was diagnosed with cancer (he died the following year). "My wife calls it the most expensive home movie ever made," he said.

That's because he expanded the project to interview everyone who had been on the scene. Glen Campbell and Leon Russell went on to successful solo careers, but the others' names you probably won't recognize: Hal Blaine and Earl Palmer (drums); Carol Kaye and Joe Osborn (bass); Don Randi and Larry Knechtel (piano); Barney Kessel and Howard Roberts (guitar). Before the '70s, session musicians were seldom credited for their contributions.

Getting the interviews was the easy part, Tedesco said, compared to getting the music. He has paid hundreds of thousands to publishers, record companies and the musicians union for the 120 music cues, almost all of them very familiar. The rights to hit songs like "Be My Baby," "Strangers in the Night" and "A Taste of Honey" don't come cheap.

To get the story told, Tedesco, 52, has taken out loans, refinanced his house and maxed out his credit cards. When he asked one record company for permission to use a certain song, they told him it would cost $2.5 million. He estimates he needs $175,000 before the rights will be squared away and the film can released commercially. Until then, he's limited to showing it at film festivals and for non-profits like the Museum of Idaho.

Most people have no idea how many records the Wrecking Crew made. Hal Blaine guessed that he played on 6,000 sessions. Tedesco said he thinks his father kept the same pace. In addition to hit records, Wrecking Crew members played on movie soundtracks and TV shows. Tedesco's guitar can be heard on "Green Acres," "Batman," "Mission Impossible" and "M*A*S*H."

"It was three or four dates a day for years," he said. "You're the first call, and they know what you can do."

On the festival circuit, nationally and internationally, the film has done has done very well. "I love watching audiences get off on it," Tedesco said. "Even the ones that know about it are still blown away by it. The greatest compliments are from the people who've been dragged to a documentary."

For more information about the film, visit this link: www.wreckingcrewfilm.com.

Teri Ehresman elected president of the National Federation of Press Women

Teri Ehresman

Congratulations to Teri Ehresman of Idaho Falls, who has been elected president of the National Federation of Press Women.

Ehresman was elected to a two-year term to lead the national organization at a recent meeting in Salt Lake City. She has served as first vice president, second vice president and secretary of the organization. She also has served in many leadership roles in the Idaho affiliate, Media Network Idaho.

Ehresman works at the Idaho National Laboratory in the Communications and Governmental Affairs office as the communications lead for nuclear science and technology programs.  She previously worked as a reporter and editor for the Idaho Falls Post Register.

On a personal note, I've known Teri since 1981, when she was regional editor and I was the paper's staff writer in Challis.

NFPW is an organization of professional women and men pursuing careers across the communications spectrum. The organization has more than 1,000 members throughout the United States. It is committed to the highest ethical standards in communications, protecting First Amendment rights, professional growth, promoting the next generation of professional communicators and networking with other professionals. Its headquarters is in Washington, D.C.  For more information, visit www.nfpw.org.