Holiday ramblings from a flu-addled eggnoggin'

Hey Bizmojo people, I appreciate your patience and understanding. I have been laid out with the flu since Sunday, mostly in bed. Managed a modest Christmas with my family, which included a wonderful brunch of French toast made with challah from my friends Neccia and Betty at Buttercup Bakery and Bistro. Other than that, it's been kind of dodgy. On the bright side, I've lost five pounds -- take that New Year's resolutions! -- and managed to read all of Tune In: The Beatles All These Years, a veritable tome by Mark Lewisohn, who has made a career of chronicling the Fab Four. It's Volume One of a three-part epic and ends in 1962, right on the cusp of world conquest. I am a fiend for this stuff (although the existence of a "deluxe" 1,700-page edition gives even me pause; do I really need twice as many accounts of Pete Best's mediocrity as a drummer? No.)

From a business standpoint -- and this is a business blog; even on my meds I remember this -- the most interesting part was about how the Beatles finally got their foot in the door at EMI Abbey Road and what a dicey proposition it was.

Parlophone A&R chief George Martin (now Sir George Martin), contrary to legend, basically had the Beatles rammed down his throat by his boss, Sir Leonard Wood. Martin had been having an affair with his EMI assistant and Sir Leonard wanted to punish him. Two gents from Ardmore and Beechwood, EMI's music publishing arm, were interested to the rights to John and Paul's songwriting, and to get the rights they had to sign the Beatles and record them. Martin was told to do so if he wanted to keep his job.

At that point, the future Sir George didn't John and Paul's originals were that good, and gave the band a tune called "How Do You Do It?" which they grudgingly recorded. Its release got nixed, however, when the EMI brass told him it had to be a Lennon-McCartney song on the A-side. It ended up being "Love Me Do," which Martin did nothing to promote. The guys at Ardmore and Beechwood made a lot of calls, and that along with the big fan base in Liverpool propelled the record to a respectable position on the charts. That got them a fresh shot with Martin, who would have abandoned them if "Love Me Do" had stiffed. The rest is history. The next record, "Please Please Me," went to Number One and Martin got his revenge on Ardmore and Beechwood by pointing Brian Epstein, the Beatles' manager, to Dick James, with whom he set up Northern Songs and locked up the publishing.

Here's Sir Paul and his band doing "Please Please Me" a few years ago. Beatles Forever!

Idaho Falls places 22nd on list of 'most exciting' small cities

Click on the chart for a better view.

Oh my heck, here's another one of those lists of small cities in which Idaho Falls ranks somewhere near the top. In this case, it's Movato's list of "exciting" small cities, and we come in 22nd. Pocatello ranked 15th.

How times have changed! I remember the days in which respondents to the Post Register's Readers Choice poll routinely named "Home" as the top nightspot. Not anymore.

You can visit the link here, but if you don't want to make the effort these are the criteria that were used:

• Nightlife per capita (bars, clubs, comedy, etc.)
• Live music venues per capita
• Active life options per capita (parks, outdoor activities, etc.)
• Fast Food restaurants per capita (the fewer the better)
• Percentage of restaurants that are fast food (the lower the better)
• Percentage of young residents ages 20 to 34 (the higher the better)

Melaleuca employees donate food, presents for regional charity effort

The Christmas tree and donated presents at Melaleuca's Idaho Falls headquarters.

Melaleuca and hundreds of its employees have been making the season a little brighter for some eastern Idaho families in need, buying food for pantries and presents to go under Christmas trees.

After buying 12,500 pounds of food, Melaleuca identified and assisted several families from Ashton to Pocatello who are suffering extreme hardship. Each family received a three-month supply of non-perishable food, 40 pounds of meat, new clothing and toys for the children. The company also donated more than 1,000 cans of food to help the Idaho Falls Soup Kitchen.

Employees also helped by purchasing new toys for 300 children adopted through The Salvation Army’s Angel Giving Tree program. They donated new toys, books, video games, sporting equipment, gift certificates, art supplies, coats, snow boots, and other clothing for children ranging from infants to teen-agers.

Over the past six weeks, many employees in the Idaho Falls and Rexburg customer call centers opted to trade all or a portion of their incentive checks for presents going toward children who otherwise might not have had anything to open this Christmas.
This is the 12th year Melaleuca has participated in The Salvation Army’s Angel Giving Tree program. Salvation Army volunteers will wrap and distribute the gifts in the coming days.

“With the need greater than ever, we appreciate Melaleuca’s significant charitable contributions and its steady commitment to improving the Idaho Falls community,” said Maj. James Halverson of the Salvation Army's Idaho Falls office. “We appreciate Melaleuca’s mission of enhancing lives, which shows in its desire to help disadvantaged children smile a little brighter and receive a Christmas gift this year.”

More details on the west side Walgreens

The northwest corner of West Broadway and Skyline Drive, where Walgreen Drug plans to build a new store.

Earlier this month we reported on Walgreen Drug's plan to build a new Idaho Falls store on the northwest corner of West Broadway and Skyline Drive. After a visit to the Idaho Falls Building Department, here is some more information about what we'll be seeing in 2014.

Walgreen's will be close to the corner, following the pattern the chain adopted for all its stores more than 10 years ago, guaranteeing that no customer will be parked too far from the main entrance. This will be the fourth store of its type in the Idaho Falls-Ammon area, and will replace the operation the company set up in the old Westgate Drug building.

Wells Fargo Bank, which has been near the corner of Broadway and Skyline, will move to north of the new Walgreen's store. The strip mall that is home to Walker's, Karnation, CoCo Beach, etc., will be torn down as will the old City Floral building and greenhouse. A new strip mall is being proposed for the area between Bank of Commerce and the new Walgreen's, said Reginald Fuller, the city's building official. "It's going to be pretty much a complete overhaul of that whole corner, he said.

Bitrick Consulting Group open for business

Monica Bitrick

Monica Bitrick, active on the Idaho Falls business and non-profit scene for more than five years, has started her own company, Bitrick Consulting Group, aimed at helping large and small enterprises with customized business and management solutions.

Since coming from Boise in 2007, Bitrick has helped businesses in the area as director of human resources for Advantage Employer Solutions. Before that, she was employed with Manpower International and Workscape, Inc. in Boise. She holds a bachelor’s in business administration (general business administration and human resources management) from Boise State University.

“My career has always centered around helping businesses and organizations become better at what they do," she said. "It seems only logical that I create a business the focuses on just that.”

Bitrick also has volunteered her abilities to non-profit organizations, serving as treasurer of the Suicide Prevention Action Network of Idaho. She is a member of Idaho Falls Rotary, and serves as Bronco Contact for southeast Idaho with the Boise State Alumni Association.  Previously, she served as the chair of the Military Affairs Committee, Young Professionals Network, Distinguished Under 40 Awards Program, and the Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce's Fourth of July Parade.  She participated in Dancing with the Idaho Falls Stars in 2013 to benefit the American Cancer Society. She is an active volunteer with EITC Foundation and Calvary Chapel Christian School.

Bitrick’s accolades include the “Accomplished Under 40 Award” from the Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce, Service to Others Award from the Military Affairs Committee, and the POW-MIA Recognition Award from the Veterans for Foreign Wars.

For more information or to schedule an appointment, call (208) 932-8436. Bitrick Consulting Group can be found on Facebook with this link.