Elijah Wood makes surprise visit to Blackfoot A&W

Wednesday started as a routine day for employees at the A&W inside the Snake River Travel Plaza in Blackfoot.

“We were just giving out free floats. I was back there making them like a crazy person,” said A&W manager Alayna Archbald.

Archbald said that’s when she noticed one customer was getting more attention than the floats.

“I noticed that there was just a big group of people all staring over at him,” said Archbald. “He has those eyes that you just get lost in.”

It turns out those eyes belonged to Elijah Wood, who plays Frodo in the “Lord of the Rings” series.

Joe Henrikson, who manages the Snake River Travel Plaza, said Wood was “coming back from a Salmon River rafting trip” when he apparently stopped in Blackfoot to grab a bite.

“Probably wanted some food and came in,” said Henrikson.

Henrikson said Wood picked a great day to visit. Wednesday the A&W was giving away root beer floats to raise money for wounded veterans.

“He was really polite, kind, and he was here with a friend and they were both just really great people,” said Archbald.

Frodo got his free float and donated $20.

“This is great publicity. It’s gonna help us out a ton,” said Henrikson.

“Every once in a while we get Karole Honas and that’s kind of like, ‘Oh,’ but no, nobody as big as Elijah,” said Archbald.