Togo's sign up on Hitt Road

Togo's Sandwiches is going in at 2994 S. 25 East, in the Sagewood Shopping Center.

It looks like the first Idaho Falls Togo's Sandwiches is going to be at 2994 South 25 East, in the Sagewood Shopping Center next door to Costa Vida. The sign went up this week and inside the work is progressing steadily.

This will be the second Togo's in eastern Idaho. The first opened last month in Rexburg. The California-based chain announced last spring it had a plan to develop five restaurants in eastern Idaho and eight in Salt Lake City.

The Idaho Falls and Rexburg restaurants are two that Ty and Debbie Jenkins have signed on to develop, along with others Twin Falls, Pocatello. Ty Jenkins is CEO of DocuTech, a company that develops and markets Web-based mortgage compliance software.

Overall, Togo's has more than 325 locations open and under development throughout the West. Last year, the company launched a franchise development incentive program to drive expansion in key growth markets. Both new and existing franchisees who sign new agreements for three or more locations receive reduced royalty fees for the first two years for each new restaurant developed in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Nevada and Arizona. Additionally, franchisees benefit from $10 million for remodels and transfers, as well as $5 million to build new restaurants.

To become a part of the Togo's team, candidates should possess liquidity of $150,000 for a single restaurant and a net worth of $300,000. Area developers looking to develop three or more restaurants should have liquidity of $450,000 and net worth of $900,000.

Post Register names digital media specialist

Donna Nims

Donna Nims has been named the Post Register’s digital media specialist, a new position in which she will provide support for all of the Post Register’s online efforts.

Nims had previously worked at the Post Register, for more than two years in two different positions, most recently as a sales manager for Farm & Ranch and digital advertising sales.

She has a bachelor of science degree in computer and mathematical sciences from Lake Superior State University, Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. She also has a management background in wireless Internet sales and services.

Local photographer offers discount on online drone course

Here's a aerial video tour of the Idaho Falls Greenbelt and the LDS Temple made by Mark Richardson and posted on his www.camerastupid.com Web site.

Are you planning on getting a drone for Christmas? If you are, you might want to learn how to fly it, in which case Mark Richardson, a local photographer, is offering a course through udemy: Aerial Photography and Videography with Drones.

As a professional photographer, Richardson has traveled extensively in the United States and abroad to use quadcopters to capture aerial imagery for corporate and commercial productions. He has built a few of his own, but now prefers the DJI Phantom platform, because it is easy to use and portable.

“The people who know how to fly drones are about to have a whole new world of opportunities open to them,” he said. “The photography and videography trades alone have already and will continue to see major transformations as multi-rotors are used as flying cameras.

Richardson is offering the course at $49 to anyone who uses this link: https://www.udemy.com/aerial-photography-and-videography-with-drones/?couponCode=drone+49. In addition to 40 online course videos and materials, students will be able to get one-on-one instruction from Richardson himself. The course is comprehensive, offering information to people who already own drones as well as those looking to buy. The lessons also cover legal and safety issues.

A few things are needed:

• A computer, to update and calibrate the drone that I recommend.
• Basic tools such as soldering iron, wire cutters and screwdrivers, for customizing your aerial platform.

In addition to his work as a photographer and droneographer (does such a word exist yet? I predict it will) Richardson is also the proprietor of the www.camerastupid.com blog/Web site. Want to like him on Facebook? Here's the link: https://www.facebook.com/camerastupid.

Camping World coming to Idaho Falls near Pancheri overpass

Work going on at the future site of Camping World, scheduled to open in May.

The dirt being moved southwest of the Pancheri overpass will be the new home of Camping World, a company that started nearly 50 years ago in Kentucky and most recently bought the OK Trailer RV dealership in Shelley.

The company and its Boise developer, Zoke LLC, signaled in May they wanted to develop 12 acres near Interstate 15. As the land was designated for high-density residential development in the city of Idaho Falls’ comprehensive plan, the City Council had to take action before annexation could take place and work could get started.


The site is bordered by Tara Street and Skyline Drive. It will feature multiple service bays, a Camping World retail store and a state-of-the-art collision center.

Camping World began with a small store in Beech Bend Park, an amusement park and campground outside Bowling Green. Campers at the park were requesting a place where they could buy supplies, so David Garvin, son of the park's owner, took out a loan and opened a store. Garvin amassed a large customer list as the years went by. In 1997, he sold the company to the current owners, Good Sam Enterprises of Ventura, Calif.

The company now has more than 100 retail and service locations throughout the United States, and also sells goods through mail order and online. The Idaho Falls center will be the second in Idaho. The other is located in Meridian.

Keefer’s Island plans grand opening Thursday

William and Eldora Keefer and their children in the early 20th century. Twins Fred and Frank are on either side of their parents. (Photo courtesy Museum of Idaho)

When the crew at the Shilo Inn were looking for a new name for their catering business, all it took was a look out the window, where Keefer’s Island sits right in the middle of the Snake River.

Formerly O’Callahan’s, Keefer’s Island Restaurant and Catering will be having its grand opening Thursday, starting with a ribbon cutting by the Greater Idaho Falls Chamber Ambassadors at 10 a.m.

Complimentary breakfast Danishes and beverages will be served.

In the evening at 6, there will be Champagne, hors d’oeuvres, dinner and drink specials, and live music by Happyville (the band in which I play guitar, if you don’t know that already.) For the historically minded, there will be a display of items from the Keefer Family Collection, provided by the Museum of Idaho.

The Keefers were one of the most important families in Idaho Falls’ history. William W. Keefer came to town with the Utah & Northern Railroad, and once the bridge and shops were built he decided to stay. With a developer's eye, he began buying real estate.

Keefer was a builder and a brewer, and his most lasting impact may have been on the Snake River itself. In 1909, he and his twin sons, Fred and Frank, built a dam and retaining wall north of Broadway, creating the actual falls and providing water for hydropower generation.

Fred and Frank were the most colorful of William and Eldora Keefer’s seven children, and it was Fred who filed a mineral claim on the island in the Snake below John’s Hole, then built a cabin. In 1962, he deeded it to the city of Idaho Falls on condition that the cabin stayed and that the island be called Keefer’s Island.

The menu features American cuisine, new and traditional, burgers, seafood and southern-style cuisine. Breakfast, brunch and buffets are served, and its hours are 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. The lounge is open until 1 a.m.

For more information, call 523-1818. For catering, 523-4318.