Win a Harley and Randy Houser Swag, Stew Stewart Retirement Show

"Sellers" &Erin Model Randy Houser Swag - Want Some?

Randy Houser Concert Next Week: The Randy Houser Concert in TJ’s Corral is next Thursday, September 8 and we have some giveaways to help enhance your concert experience!

If you’d like some of the Randy Houser “swag” pictured to the left, enter to win by commenting on our blog (use the comments section at the bottom of the last article) OR by sharing our blog on your social media accounts.  Make sure you tag us in your share so we see it and throw your name in the contest!  We'll draw the winning names on Tuesday, September 6, announce them in our blog on Wednesday, September 7, and have the merchandise ready for you to pick up at Will Call on concert night. Four prizes, each includes a Randy Houser Hat, Randy Houser Tee (2 men’s, 2 women’s) and a signed Randy Houser picture.

Here’s another good one: how’d you like to have a couple of passes to the Randy Houser Meet & Greet to go along with your concert tickets? Be sure to check out the details in one of the recent postings on our Facebook page.  Want to hedge your bet on winning those Meet & Greet passes? Click over to the Ten Country 97.3 website - they are also giving away a couple!

Tickets for the Randy Houser Concert start at $59 and are available on our website, at the hotel desk, or by calling 775-783-6606.

Donate Blood at CVI This Friday

Blood Drive at CVI Friday: Last call for the United Blood Services “Heroes Remembered Blood Drive” happening this Friday in our West parking lot under the big marquee sign. Donations will be taken from noon to 6 p.m. and you can schedule an appointment by  clicking on this link or calling United Blood Services at 800-696-4484.  "The Life You Save May Be Your Own" may be best known as the title of a Flannery O'Connor story,  but it remains one of the most riveting slogans ever used to drive home the importance of donating blood.

New Harley in Your Future? Our September promotions kick off tomorrow and we’re featuring a chance to win a free Harley or $10,000 at both the CVI and Bodines Casino. We also have some HDTVs to give away, 5X Points days, a pretty-darn-attractive Day Spa Package in our Ladies’ Night promotion, free bingo on Thursdays and more. Check it all out on this page on our website. 

A Catholic, a Methodist, and a Nonsectarian Christian Were Standing at a Corner . . . Seriously; you didn’t really think we were starting a joke?! The fact is that less than a half a mile from Sharkey’s Casino there are a Catholic (St. Gall’s), Methodist (United) and Nonsectarian Christian (Shadow Mountain) Church - the three of them are all in a row and tucked between St. Gall’s and Shadow Mountain is a nondescript single lane road that leads to Jacob’s Berry Farm, a seemly well-kept secret that recently garnered a 6- minute feature on the Las Vegas PBS channel. Check it out above!  Occasionally we’ll cover a few other interesting places close to either the CVI or Sharkey’s!

Wadda Ya Mean Our Airport is Closed this Afternoon? You probably know that the Lake Tahoe Summit is going on today and you might have also heard that the President is making an appearance. You wouldn’t think that would affect us down here in the valley, but when the President travels, it has an impacton air traffic within a certain radius. Probably more than you want to know, but you can learn how it all works at this link. Turns out that the Minden-Tahoe Airport, Nevada’s fourth busiest, is within the restricted outer nautical mile radius of Reno and the restricted inner nautical mile radius of Lake Tahoe. So, air operations slow to a crawl for four hours this afternoon! Why is this in the Carson Valley Inn blog? ‘Cause the local airport and its many adjacent business provide quite a bit of business for the CVI and we feel for anything that affects their routine.

Stew Stewart Retirement Appearance This Weekend

Free Entertainment in the Cabaret Lounge:  Jonathon “JB” Barton is on stage tonight, Stew Stewart entertains Thursday thru Saturday, the Blues Monsters are in for one night on Sunday and Bill Wharton plays Monday through Wednesday.  Stew Stewart recently announced his retirement as our Entertainment Manager and as a local entertainer. Join us to celebrate Stew’s five decades in the entertainment business as he and his band perform a variety of country music, blues, oldies, comedy, classic rock, Motown and more.  The Blues Monsters wrap up the Labor Day weekend with their powerfully unique combination of R&B, funk, jazz, and Chicago-style blues. Click here for the upcoming lineup of free entertainment in the Cabaret Lounge.

This Week at the CVI

• In the Casino
• What? No Ladies’ Night Tonight?  Don’t worry; Ladies’ Night will be back next Wednesday. Today you earn 5X Points all day and the August Grand Prize Giveaway Drawings are tonight at 6 & 8 p.m. with $10,000 guaranteed between CVI & Bodines!
• Bingo Thursday: Come in and play Bingo on the odd hour, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and win $50 - $100 instantly!  Simply be in the casino playing slots or table games using your INN Club card and watch for our staff bringing around Free Bingo Cards. 
• Friday Drawings: Catch Harley Promotion drawings at 5, 7 and 9 p.m. for a guaranteed giveaway of forty thousand dollars in September between the CVI and Bodines. Use your INN Club card while you play!
• 5X Points Saturday: this Saturday and every Saturday in September earn 5X Points all day!
• 5X Points Monday: Earn 5X Points on Labor Day and check back next week to find out about the HDTVs we’re giving away on the remaining Mondays in September.
• Poker Room: Our Poker Room offers Featured Games, Tournaments and Special Promotions with something extra going on every day of the week. This Monday, start earning squares for the first Monday Night Football squares grid - for the Steelers-Redskins game on Monday, September 12.
• Sports and Race Book: This week you can bet Major League Baseball, Horseracing, Preseason NFL Football, NCAA Football and Sunday’s Bojangles' Southern 500 NASCAR Race.  Also on the board: futures bets on who will win the World Series, 2016 Season NCAA Football Championship and the February, 2017 Super Bowl.
• In Our Restaurants
• Wednesday is Italian Night in Katie’s – three specials – just $6.99 each! Next week we start a new Tuesday special in Katie’s, Chicken Schnitzel. Check all the Katie’s Specials at this link.
• The 18-Piece Sushi Platter Special is served in CV Steak on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
• Our Friday special in CV Steak is Grilled Duck Breast for $28.  Saturday night’s special is Garlic Studded Prime Rib for $26 and Sunday's special is one pound of King Crab Legs for $32. All three specials are served with fresh vegetable, choice of rice or potato (au gratin, baked, or a one-pound, twice-baked), tableside tossed salad and warm demi-loaf of bread.
• Click the restaurant name for more info, specials and links to menus for Katie’s, CV Steak and Jobs Perk at the CVI . . . or our nearby sister property restaurants, the Jackpot Café at Sharkey's Casino and the Bodines Restaurant at Bodines Casino.

Planning a Stay at the CVI? You will always get the best rate by booking directly with the Carson Valley Inn either online or by calling our Reservations Department directly at 775-783-6629 or 800-321-6983.

Comments? Have questions or comments about the CVI? Use the comments section below, shoot us an email or 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!

The Oak Ridge Boys are SRO, B. J. Thomas Concert tickets on sale, Minden-Tahoe Airport, more!

In this week's blog posting: The Oak Ridge Boys are Standing Room Only for Thursday, B. J. Thomas Concert tickets are now on sale, Minden-Tahoe Airport in our spotlight, more!

Concert Notes:

Video Image of Grassy Seating Area

• The Oak Ridge Boys Concert has sold out for the regular and VIP seating BUT – we have opened up a limited number of SRO (Standing Room Only with a seating option) tickets for what promises to be a truly electrifying Carson Valley Event this Thursday!! Bring a blanket, sit on the raised grass area along the back of TJ's Corral - or stand if you wish - and you'll have a pretty darn good view! The grassy area is over 4,000 sq. ft. (see the video above) and it's the same distance from the front of the stage as it is from home plate to first base on a baseball diamond. Did you know that professional baseball players cover that distance in about 4.5 seconds! But, before we digress further (wait- isn't digressing part of the idea behind a blog?), here's the important part: SRO tickets are $30 plus processing fee and they are only available by calling our Events Center Hotline at 775-783-7766.
• Tickets are now on Sale for the B.J. Thomas Concert on Thursday, July 10. Once again, our blog readers are getting this information first . . . so we suggest you check our blog posting every Wednesday morning for a heads up on the latest news from the CVI!
• Kudos to the folks at Getaway Reno Tahoe who were most gracious in letting CVI's Bill Henderson write a guest blog for them. He talks about the summer concert lineup, the new TJ's Corral and – well heck, just read it – fairly short!
• Dustin Lynch's (June 13) Where It's At and Chris Young's (August 2) Who I Am With You continue to trend up on the iTunes Top 100 Country Songs and Billboard Top 100 Country Hits. 
• Speaking of Dustin Lynch, we'll be running a contest on our Facebook Page starting this Friday to giveaway two tickets for the Dustin Lynch Concert including a hotel room for concert night. It's free to enter, so check it out!!

 Everyone Loves Airplanes . . . 

. . . and our local Minden-Tahoe Airport (KMEV in airplane jargon) has just about the best general aviation access and services a pilot could expect. Sure helps the tourism economy, too, providing guests for our hotel whether here on business or pleasure. In early June, the airport will be hosting a 3-day visit by the Collings Foundation Wings of Freedom Tour with the opportunity to tour or take a ride (for a fee, of course) in a B-17 (see the modern-day tail gunner at the left), B-24, B-25 or P-51. Later in June KMEV will be the site of the Minden 18 Meter Nationals Glider Competition – just one of the many national or international soaring events held locally.

As Always, Interesting Tidbits and News: 

• Mike's horses:  Fiftyshadesofhay rallied to take the one-mile Grade 2, $250,000 Ruffian Stakes at Belmont Park on Sunday. Last we heard, none of Mike's horses are running this weekend, but we'll all be rooting for California Chrome in Saturday's Preakness Stakes!
• Game On! Chef Patrick's Game-On Fridays special in CV Steak this Friday is a Rabbit Stifado – a flavorful, slow cooked rabbit stew served with Orzo pasta – just $25.00! As with all CV Steak entrees, the Game-On Friday special also includes tableside-tossed salad, vegetable and your choice of potato - au gratin, baked, or a one-pound, twice-baked potato.
• Free Entertainment in the Cabaret Lounge: George Pickard  performs tonight, The Vegas Road Show appears Thursday through Saturday and Brian Andrews takes the stage Sunday through next Wednesday. Here is a link to the schedule for the next couple of months.
• Pardon Our Dust: OK, so it's sealer and not dust. If you drive by this week and wonder what's going on in the west parking lot (between the CVI and the RV Park), we're having the lot re-sealed – half today and the other half on Sunday. This project will not affect the available parking for Thursday night's concert and we'll be sealing other sections of the lot next week.

I Turned $25 into $$650 in just 3 Hours! Sure sound like one of those too-good-to-be-true "come on" claims . .  but turns out someone really did exactly this last night here at the CVI. Richard L. finished first in our monthly blackjack tournament and turned his $25 entry fee into winnings equal to half the $1,300 prize pool. The rest of the money? 30% and $390 went to Rich R. for finishing 2^nd and 20% ($260) to David B for 3^rd. Pretty simple deal and you can take a shot for yourself in next month's Blackjack Tournament on Tuesday, June 10.

Let's Hear From You! To send us suggestions or comments, 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!