Merle Haggard Selling Fast, Free Chevy Sonic Saturday, Dubai World Cup, More

Free Car Saturday Night! We've been promoting it all month and now the time has come: this Saturday night we are giving away a free Chevy Sonic or a cash option in our grand prize drawings which will be held at 6 and 8 p.m. in the casino. Don't have a Golden Ticket yet for the free car drawing? Stop by this Friday for drawings at 5, 7 and 9 p.m. for more chances to win! And if you happen to be going to Bodines casino this coming weekend, don't fret – we're giving away a Chevy Sonic up there also! Special thanks to our most cooperative friends at Michael Hohl Motor Company who helped with this promotion. 

Silver Wings – One of Merle's Classics!

Tickets are selling quite briskly for the Merle Haggard Concert on Friday night, May 1. Might want to make sure you get yours before too long 'cause this one is trending towards an advance sell-out! Tickets for the Gary Allan Concert on June 4 will go on sale sometime in early to mid-April.

Sharkey's Update of Sorts: We had a great walk-through with the architect on Tuesday of this week. Some of the visions he's been explaining to us are now starting to show themselves and we're getting pretty excited about the look, feel and ambiance associated with the rebirth of Sharkey's. We'd like to share more, but things are happening so fast and furious that our visit was cut a bit short with a half kidding, half serious comment from the general contractor as he walked by us, "Grab a hammer or a paintbrush or move along!!"

Job Opportunities This Friday: Our HR folks will be at the Spring Carson Valley Career Job Opportunity Fair this Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the CVIC Hall in Minden. We're still looking for food servers for the soon-to-open Sharkey's and we have about a dozen positions open here at the Carson Valley Inn. Stop by and look us up!

Forty to Qualify for Free $2000 Poker Tournament: Players in our poker room have been moving up and down rungs on our poker ladder as we get closer to the March 31 cutoff when we determine the top 40 players to participate in the free poker tournament on April 11 with $2000 in cash prizes. The points you earn in the poker room help you climb up the ladder. And, with some of our poker room promotions providing wheel spins which can give you extra points, you never know who's going to suddenly move up on the ladder, move on to the ladder, or drop to a rung below the cutoff. The standings are posted and last we checked at least 15 people sitting below the 40 cutoff could easily move into a qualifying spot with a little more play time or one spin of the prize wheel. Come on in and check it out! (More Poker info for the ladies below)

California Chrome and Secret Circle in Dubai: This Saturday the horse racing world turns its attention 8000 miles from the Carson Valley when the world’s richest day of racing unfolds at Meydan Racecourse and the Dubai Racing Club.  Richest day? Try this: Nine races with total prize money of just short of $30 million! Mike Pegram's Secret Circle is scheduled to run in the $2 Million Dubai Golden Shaheen and Steve Coburn's 2014 Horse of the Year California Chrome is slated to go in the feature event, the $10 Million Dubai World Cup.  Interested? Read on:

• We will be showing the races on the televisions in our cabaret bar.
• You can bet the two races with local connections at the Race and Sports Book at the CVI.
• The first race starts at 5 a.m. Saturday. The Golden Shaheen is not until the 6th race and the Dubai World Cup will not start until 8:00 a.m. or after, best we can figure. Anyway, we'll be open before the Golden Shaheen starts.
• For more about the richest day in racing click here.

Imagine this Phone Conversation: Think the Dubai World Cup races are an instant path to riches for winning horses from the USA? That big prize money for each race is distributed to the various finishers, it isn't winner take all. The trainers, managers, jockeys and handlers all get a piece of the winnings. The owners need to get to Dubai and back (Southwest doesn't fly there for $199 each way!), they'll need a place to stay (sure makes the CVI look like a bargain) and dining out in Dubai is . . . well, you would long for the prices in Katie's or CV Steak. Then there's this call:

• Other End: Good Morning, Federal Express, may I help you?
• You: Yes, I'd like to ship my prized thoroughbred from southern California to Dubai and back, first class of course, and can you arrange boarding for the week he is there?
• Other End: Sure, (pause) . . . that total will be $$$$ - no make that $$$$$ - including pickup and delivery and all fees.
• You: Gulp!

The August Aviation Roundup is More Than Airplanes: Don't you think this little guy had his day made when he met one of the Thunderbird pilots at the Minden-Tahoe Airport earlier this week! A memory for a lifetime. Their advance visit to Carson Valley on Monday was most productive and you can catch more in this story posted by Joey Crandall of carsonvalleytimes.com and this story posted by Shane Murphy of The Record Courier. Be sure to mark August 22 & 23 on your calendars for the 2015 Aviation Roundup!

Ladies Poker Tournament Sunday: Our monthly ladies poker tournament is this Sunday, March 29 so that we don't conflict with Easter next week. The fun starts at 3 p.m. when Sharon gives free poker lessons for all the ladies. If you've played just a little, or are somewhat nervous about participating in a tournament, stop by starting at 3 and Sharon will have you tuned up and ready to go by the time the tournament starts. Under the direction of Derek Johnson, the Ladies-Only No-limit Texas Hold'em Bounty Tourney starts at 4 p.m. with the usual friendly assistance by Dean and Roberta. We hope you can join us!

As Always, Interesting, Helpful and Even Useful Tidbits and News

• Wednesday Ladies' Night 5:30 to 8:30 PM: The first 150 ladies to sign up tonight receive the last in a series of four March Bakeware products. Also enjoy hot seat drawings for Ghirardelli Chocolate Baskets, ladies-only drink specials, a ladies-only slot tournament and more.
• Grilled Duck Breast Friday in CV Steak:  Our Friday Game Special this week is Grilled Duck Breast, a Maple Leaf Farms 9 oz. duck breast marinated with fresh herbs, grilled to medium rare-medium doneness with natural duck jus, served with tableside-tossed salad, vegetable and your choice of potato - au gratin, baked, or a one-pound, twice-baked potato . . . all for $28.00.
• Free Entertainment in the Cabaret Lounge: Johnny Smokes is here tonight, Decades entertains Thursday & Friday, Stew Stewart prowls the Cabaret Lounge on Saturday night and George Pickard takes the stage Sunday through Wednesday nights.
• We Thought You Should Know: Continuing our series of bringing you interesting and unusual information: tomorrow is Make up Your Own Holiday Day and Friday is Quirky Country Music Song Titles Day (we think our entertainment manager Stew Stewart celebrates this every day -  give him a subject and he'll make up a song title on the  spot!). Have an interesting holiday you'd like to see? How about a quirky country song title? Tell us about it in the comments section below.

Comments? Have questions or comments about the CVI? Use the comments section below, shoot us an email or just pick up the phone and call us @ 775-782-9711. Hit "0" when the automated voice comes on and you'll go right to the hotel operator who can get you to the correct person or department.  We have a lot more coming up at the Carson Valley Inn so check our Blog posting every Wednesday morning!

Sharkey's Job Fair, New Chevy Sonic, Appetizers, More

Is There a New Chevy Sonic in Your Future? One lucky INN Club member is guaranteed to win a Chevy Sonic or a cash option in our grand prize drawings on Saturday, March 28! The new car, on display near our electronic sign courtesy of Michael Hohl Motor Company, will go to one of the Golden Ticket holders who qualifies in our Friday and Saturday night drawings all month. Add in free gift days, ladies nights, 3X points days, St. Patrick's Day fun and our monthly blackjack tournament and you have quite a plethora of payout possibilities this March at the CVI!

Let's Get this Meal Started Right! Our friend Joey Crandall at carsonvalleytimes.com is at it again with another one of his "throw downs" for a readers-choice favorite Carson Valley food dish. This time it's App Wars - a poll in search of Carson Valley’s Signature Appetizer or Starter. The nomination round is now open and you can vote through 5 p.m. Friday, March 6 by clicking on this link. You'll  notice we have a good representation of appetizer selections from both CV Steak and Katie's on the ballot so far. My personal favorite? Glad you asked: it's the Sampler Platter in CV Steak which can be ordered for either two or four people . . . and the Ahi starter is a very close second!!

Sharkey's Casino Job Fair March 14 at CVI: As the reopening of Sharkey's Casino gets closer, hiring will begin for a number of positions at a Job Fair here at the Carson Valley Inn on Saturday, March 14 from 9 AM to 2 PM. Here are more details:

• Location: The Picon Room, which is just inside the hotel entrance, to the left.
• Job Positions to Be Filled:
• Casino: Slot Floor Person, Sports Book Writers, Security, Cleaning Attendants.
• Guest Service: Cashier, Main Bank.
• Food & Beverage: Cooks, Hosts, Servers, Bartenders.
• Fastest Way to Be Considered: Bring a completed Carson Valley Inn application. Here are a few ways you can obtain one in advance:
• Go to www.carsonvalleyinn.com and click on the word "EMPLOYMENT" which appears at the bottom of every page on our website. Click in the appropriate place for the job application. Or, better yet, click here and the job application will load. You can complete it on your computer, save it, print it, and bring it with you. Or you can print out the blank form, fill it out by hand, and bring it with you.
• Stop at the Carson Valley Inn HR office, pick up an application, complete it and bring with you on March 14.
• Employment Applications will also be available at the Job Fair.
• Answers to some of the common job-related questions we receive about Sharkey's Casino:
• All pre-opening hiring for Sharkey's will be done through the Carson Valley Inn HR Department. Please do not go to Sharkey's as it is a very busy construction zone.
• We do not know the exact opening date. It will most likely be sometime in April. However, we will be hiring and start training shortly after the Job Fair.
• If a job position does not appear above, we do not have that position open at Sharkey's.
• Sharkey's will have slots plus a sports book, bar and restaurant. No table games are planned.
• Yes, you still have to submit a completed application even if you have a resume.
• Oh, in case you "just tuned in" and are wondering why we at the CVI are doing a Sharkey's Job Fair? Mike Pegram, owner of the Carson Valley Inn, bought Sharkey's late last year and many of the administrative support services for Sharkey's will be provided by the Carson Valley Inn.

How Did the Last Hour Escape Me? Happens to all of us: We get busy, we lose track of time, and the next thing we know it's an hour later. One time a year it's really not an illusion – it actually happens. So, this Sunday at 2 a.m. we spring the clocks forward to 3 a.m. Is it Daylight Saving Time or Daylight Savings Time? The answer to that trivia question and some more interesting facts about this twice-a-year exercise are at this link.

Ladies-Only Poker Tournament a Good "Deal!"  Our inaugural Ladies-Only, No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em Bounty Tourney was a big hit last Sunday and Donna Negrey won the tournament on, get this, her 59^th wedding anniversary! If you're doing the math in your head, you gotta be thinking "How did a 'gotta-be-close-to-80-year-old' take out all of the younger competitors!" Actually, we're thinking the same thing and will ponder it until Sunday, March 29 when Donna defends her title in the next monthly tournament which was moved a week earlier than normal due to Easter Sunday the following week.

Lasso This One Soon: As of the posting of this blog we only have four of the Genoa Cowboy Festival Weekend Special Packages left to sell for May 1 & 2. Just $279 plus tax includes a room for two people for Friday and Saturday nights, two front section tickets for the Friday night concert, two front section tickets for the Saturday night concert and a $50 food credit.

As Always, Interesting, Helpful and Even Useful Tidbits and News

• Merle Still Has It! Judging by the record-setting readership of our blog posting last Wednesday, Merle Haggard still has incredible popularity and name recognition. We know you are hankering to buy tickets for his appearance live in concert in TJ's Corral on Friday, May 1 . . . . And we promise we'll have that information soon and post it in our weekly blog and on  this page!
• Soar Like an Eagle - Only Higher! Last week we mentioned four community organization events happening in our Valley Ballroom during March and, by gosh, we forgot one! Also happening here at the CVI is the Sports Aviation Foundation Dinner on Friday, March 20 featuring Jim Payne who will be talking about this experience preparing for the Perlan II high-altitude flight which will take soaring to the edge of space. For tickets and more information call 775-782-9871.
• Seriously? If you are reading this blog on Friday, March 6, you are definitely not observing this national day!  Enjoying an omelet in Katie's on Saturday, March 7? You obviously missed the point of this national day. And, finally, if you see someone in an obvious frenzy on Monday, March 9, don't be too concerned - they're likely just letting off some steam on this national day.
• Venison Friday in CV Steak:  Our Friday Game Special this week is Roasted Rack of Venison with Cherry Port Demi. A 4-bone venison rack seasoned with fresh herbs and roasted; served with tableside-tossed salad, vegetable and your choice of potato - au gratin, baked, or a one-pound, twice-baked potato . . . all for $32.00.
• Wednesday Ladies' Night 5:30 to 8:30 PM: The first 150 ladies to sign up tonight receive the second in a series four March Bakeware products. Also enjoy hot seat drawings for World Market gift baskets, ladies-only drink specials, a ladies-only slot tournament and more.

Comments? Have questions or comments about the CVI? Use the comments section below, shoot us an email or just pick up the phone and call us @ 775-782-9711. Hit "0" when the automated voice comes on and you'll go right to the hotel operator who can get you to the correct person or department.  We have a lot more coming up at the Carson Valley Inn so check our Blog posting every Wednesday morning!