New Year's Week Full of Activities, Promotions,More

Bringing in the New Year at the CVI! We have many activities and promotions happening over the next few days – here is a Quick Guide:

• Wednesday - Today:
• Bowl Games: Birmingham Bowl, Belk Bowl, Music City Bowl, and Holiday Bowl in the casino.
• Have A Double Bacon BLT in Katie’s: Why? See the “Because We Feel Like Mentioning It” section below.
• Thursday – New Year’s Eve:
  
• Katie’s New Year’s Eve Dinner Specials (Slow-Roasted New York Strip Loin with 6 Fried Shrimp and Pan Seared Lemon Pepper Tilapia) are served from 11:00 a.m. to 10 p.m. all regular menu items will also be available. Katie’s will not be serving the Thursday night Corned Beef & Cabbage special.
• CV Steak will open at 4:30 PM. The CV Steak New Year’s Eve Dinner Specials (Tournedos Trio and Seafood Florentine) will be served along with our regular menu. We will not be serving the Sunset Menu Specials on New Year’s Eve.
• 4X Points from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. – Be sure to use your card!
• Peach Bowl plus the two College Football Playoff Semifinal Games on the Cabaret Big Screen and casino TVs – the Orange Bowl (Oklahoma vs. Clemson) and the Cotton Bowl (Michigan State vs. Alabama).
• Free Entertainment with the RYE Brothers, 8 p.m., to 1 a.m.
• Midnight Champagne Toast in the casino.
• Friday, New Year’s Day:
• NCAA Bowl Games on the casino TV’s: Outback Bowl, Citrus Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl
• Katie’s will be serving the Friday Night Specials: Charbroiled Salmon and the Katie's Captain’s Platter.
• Slots Happy Hour from 4 to 6 p.m. with a different Mystery Multiplier (3X-7X Points) every half hour.
• Saturday, January 2:
• King of Cash “K.O.C. Cash Frenzy” 1 – 9 p.m.
• Giveaways and Hot Seats every hour.
• Free T-Shirts handed out randomly to players.
• Slots Happy Hour from 4 to 6 p.m. with a different Mystery Multiplier (3X-7X Points) every half hour.
• More Bowl Games on the Casino TV’s: Taxslayer Bowl. Liberty Bowl, Alamo Bowl and Cactus Bowl.
• Sunday, January 3:
• NFL Football – 15 games on the casino TVs.
• Ladies Only Poker Tournament in the Poker Room at 4 p.m.
• Monday, January 4:
• 4X Points today and every Monday in January!
• Poker Room Grid: Start earning squares on the College Football Playoff National Championship Game $120.00 Football Grid! 

Aunt Millie Gave You a Christmas Gift and You Didn't Get Her Anything!  Unless it was a fruitcake (there is never an obligation to reciprocate a fruitcake gift), you now feel guilty. Here's a quick solution: call (775-783-6606) or visit our hotel desk and get her a CVI gift card which can be used at the Carson Valley Inn, Bodines Casino or Sharkey's Casino. Not only is it a versatile gift, but it comes with a versatile excuse for why you didn't give it to Aunt Millie on Christmas: you can claim we were out of them when you tried to buy hers (almost the truth as we sold a record number this year) or that we had to mail it to you and it got held up in the Christmas mail overload. Add your own twist and you'll be providing a very nice gift with a plausible reason as to why it wasn't on time. And if Aunt Millie did get you a fruitcake? Make your way to Manitou Springs, Colorado on Saturday (or pretend you are there) and dispose of it in a most ceremonial and competitive manner!

Race and Sports Book:

• This week you can watch and bet the last week of regular-season NFL Football, the remaining 16 College Bowl Games, Horseracing, NBA and College Basketball, NHL Hockey and UFC fights.
• The PRO PK’EM jackpot is $4,759 on this week’s progressive parlay card.
• About This Bowl Game Madness: Previous to 1959 there were only five college football bowl games. Can you name the first? Okay, that was easy - the Rose Bowl, first played in 1901. The next college bowl games didn’t come about until 1934. Here are the next few in order of their "founding": Orange Bowl, 1934; Sugar Bowl, 1934; Sun Bowl, 1934; Cotton Bowl, 1936; Gator Bowl, 1945; Tangerine/Citrus Bowl (now the CapitalOne Bowl), 1946; Liberty Bowl, 1959. Now there are 40 NCAA Bowl Games.
• Seeding and two remaining AFC spots are up for grabs this Sunday for the NFL Playoffs  . . . rather than embarrass ourselves  by attempting to go any further, read though this article and perhaps you MAY understand all the permutations! Anyway, should make for a lot of interesting (and some meaningless) games on Sunday.

Cabaret Lounge Entertainment – No Cover, No Minimum – Free! Dale Poune performs tonight, The Rye Brothers entertain Thursday through Saturday nights, NFL Football is on Sunday night,  and John Palmore returns next Tuesday and Wednesday.  The Rye Brothers are a “power-pop” country act, mixing contemporary country music and rock n’ roll guitar driven songs. The group is led by Paul Justin & Justin Foutz, who trade off on the lead vocals and guitar licks. Paul and Justin formed Rye Brothers in the summer of 2015 and quickly added a solid rhythm section consisting of Jacob Delott (bass, backing vocals) and Jeff Sorenson (drums, backing vocals) to round out this Southern California based quartet. Sarah Hauck,  Entertainment reporter for The Record Courier did an interview with Paul Justin and her story can be read here.

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

• Venison Friday, Prime Rib Saturday, King Crab Sunday in CV Steak:  Our Friday special in CV Steak is Roasted Rack of Venison with Cherry Brandy Demi for $32.00. Saturday night’s special in CV Steak is Garlic Studded Prime Rib for $26 and Sunday's special is one pound of King Crab Legs for $32. Both 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.
• It’ll be Cold, But We’ll Keep You Warm: Walk out the old and welcome the New Year at the Candlelight Labyrinth Walk sponsored by Main Street Gardnerville at Heritage Park Gardens on New Year's Eve. Stop by anytime between 6 and 9 p.m. The event is off Gilman Street; just across highway 395 from Sharkey's Casino. We'll keep it warm inside Sharkey’s so stop in for dinner and/or cocktails before or after the outdoor Candlelight Walk. For more on this event call 775-782-8027.
• Day After the Day After: If you never do make it out of the house on New Year’s Day, here’s a reason to resurface on Saturday - Katie’s offers an Eggs Benedict special from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Saturday . . . a traditional favorite including toasted English muffin, grilled Canadian bacon, two poached eggs, Hollandaise sauce and hash browns all for just $5.99.
• Because We Feel Like Mentioning It:

• Today is Bacon Day. Philosophically, we are neutral on the latest resurgence of bacon. However, we want to respect those who wish to honor this day by reminding you that we have over a dozen breakfast and lunch items on the Katie's menu that come with bacon . . .  and we'll be glad to provide a single or double side order of bacon in, on, or around any Katie's menu item!
• Friday is Bloody Mary Day. And please don't tell us you didn't see that one coming on the day after New Year's Eve! Click the link for some interesting thoughts behind the name and (again, you certainly expected this part) a suggested recipe.
• Friday is also Polar Bear Swim Day. No need to go to the north or south pole if you have a hankering to participate - Lake Tahoe is just a few minutes away!
• Monday is Spaghetti Day.  If you have to mark the occasion on the actual day, we suggest you stop by Sharkey's Casino for the Monday night $7.99 Spaghetti and Meatballs special. If you can wait until Wednesday, check out the January Wednesday Italian Specials in Katie's with three Italian specials served from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. starting at $5.99.  Couldn't make either of these or you can't get enough pasta? The Thursday Italian Night at Bodines Casino offers even more selections!
• Monday is also Trivia Day. Keep that in mind for something we will be covering in next week’s blog. 

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!

Christmas at the CVI: Lights, Action, Food and a Last Minute Gift Idea!

CVI's Annual Transformation to the Christmas Spirit!

Ah, the visual beauty of the Christmas spirit at the Carson Valley Inn! Over 500 man-hours spread over 3-4 intense weeks go into creating the Inn's Christmas look and feel each year . . . here's  just a little piece of the story.

The activity starts right after Halloween - let's say the Monday after the Nevada Day weekend. Our Engineering Department staff makes multiple trips to our off property warehouse to retrieve all of the indoor and outdoor decorations, props, lights and other materials that were stored the previous January.

Eileen Knox - CVI's Decorating Mastermind

The indoor decorating project is then taken over by our Executive Office Manager, Eileen Knox.  Everything is unpacked, cleaned, fluffed, checked for damage, and refurbished and/or discarded if necessary. Eileen buys or orders replacement products where needed and, each year, creates new decorations or a new theme for an existing decoration base. All this takes room, so just about every nook and cranny of office space, storage rooms, and holding areas are used. With the assistance of Lance Draucker, one of our groundskeeping staff, Eileen then starts the indoor decorating process which, over a period of three weeks, has her averaging over 15,000 steps a day on her Fitbit, making dozens of trips up and down stairs and ladders each day, and doing a whole lot of stretching and reaching as the decorations go up, the ornaments go on and the lights bring them all to life.

Lance Draucker - Our Chief Decorating Elf

When not helping Eileen with the inside decorating, Lance is installing all of the outside lights along with his sidekick Robin Edwards. When you add up the lighting on our building, all of the trees along Candy Cane Lane, and the lights on the trees and other base structures along Highway 395, there are well over 10,000 bulbs of various shapes and sizes. Actually, we’d love to have someone volunteer to go out and count them! No matter what the number, that’s a lot of light strip stringing, plenty of ladder moving and climbing and considerable time 15 to 35 feet above the ground on our ManLift . . . With some spectacular views on warmer clear days and some tense moments on cold and breezy days!

Meanwhile, three of our engineering staff (Randy Ross, Larry Stewart and whoever else is handy each day) are unloading, testing, repairing and refurbishing the two large pallets of static and moving pieces and parts that make up Candy Cane Lane. The installation process then starts and, whatever it takes, is always completed so we can “flip the switch” to light up Candy Cane Lane the day after Thanksgiving and keep it running nightly through Christmas. Sometimes the process goes smoothly in balmy fall weather. Often parts need to be ordered and snow needs to be moved out of the way (sometimes more than once).

We asked Eileen why she keeps volunteering for such a wear-and-tear-on-your-body job each year (she’s been doing it for 19 or 20 years). “For starters, I’m very juvenile - that’s why you see so much Disney influence - and I love the flexibility I have to expand and create each year.  More importantly, it is so gratifying to have so many children and senior citizens look at our decorations with broad smiles.  A crowning moment was having a senior couple, sitting on one of the couches in the hotel lobby, tell me they can’t physically do the work necessary to decorate like this in their own home anymore and they so much appreciate what we do to decorate for Christmas at the Carson Valley Inn.

We also asked Eileen if she had any trouble getting approval to spend more money each year on new and replacement decorations. Her answer was simple, “not at all, I really think our owner is a kid at heart!”

What happens when Christmas passes? It all has to be taken down, packed and returned to storage . . . another 300+ hours of hard work! So, soak it all in, take as many pictures as you like, and Merry Christmas!

Gift Cards Are A Versatile Last Minute Gift: Whether you wrap them yourselves or present them in the envelope and "carrier" we provide, CVI Gift Cards are an excellent Christmas gift . . .  or a "thank you" to someone who’s helped you out! We make it easy for you to purchase CVI gift cards and their versatility plays out in that they can be used at the Carson Valley Inn, Bodines Casino and Sharkey’s Casino. We have all the details on one page as to how to buy cards in person or by phone, all their different uses, and how to check the balance on existing gift cards. And here’s a point to ponder: A $50 gift card could easily let someone have breakfast at Sharkey’s, lunch at Bodines, and dinner at the Carson Valley Inn – all in the same day!

Christmas Day at the CVI:

• Katie’s Christmas Dinner Specials (Traditional Roasted Turkey Dinner or Apple Wood Smoked Molasses and Five Peppercorn Crusted Pork Loin) are served from 11:00 a.m. to 10 p.m. all regular menu items will also be available. Katie’s will not be serving the usual Friday night Captain’s Platter and Charbroiled Salmon specials. However, Katie’s $5.99 Chicken Fried Steak & Eggs will definitely be available!
• CV Steak opens at 4:30 PM as usual.  Christmas Dinner Specials (Garlic-Studded Slow-Roasted Prime Rib of Beef or Fillet of Sole Stuffed with Crab, Shrimp and Scallops) will be served along with the regular menu. We will not be serving the usual Game special on Christmas night.
• If you ordered one of our Christmas Turkey Dinners To Go for Up to 10 People, be sure to come by between 10 AM and 1 PM to pick it up. Please pull into the valet entrance as the turkeys will be distributed right inside the hotel entrance doors.
• We will have our December Friday night Giveaway Promotion Drawings as usual at 5, 7 and 9 PM.
• The poker room will open at 4 PM on Christmas day.
• As for the casino: We’re open 24/7 with 4X Points all day on Christmas! 

Race and Sports Book:

• This week you can watch and bet NFL and College Football, Horseracing, NBA and College Basketball, and NHL Hockey.
• College Bowl Games: 8 down, 16 over the next 7 days concluding with Nevada vs. Colorado State in the Arizona Bowl on Tuesday. Then, 16 more crammed into 4 days starting next Wednesday. Click for the full schedule and remember you can bet ‘em here and watch ‘em here!
• The PRO PK’EM jackpot is $4,4668 on this week’s progressive parlay card.
• On the NFL front, the CVI crew is watching a few games with interest:  Thursday’s Chargers-Raiders game could be the last game in Oakland for the rumored-to-be-moving Raiders; Saturday night’s Redskins-Eagles game could decide the NFL East winner; Sunday morning’s Patriots-Jets game has impact on whether New York will have a playoff team this year; and Monday night’s Bengals-Broncos game has big playoff implications for both teams as they battle in the last Monday Night Football game of the season! Bet ‘em here, watch ‘em here! 

Cabaret Lounge Entertainment – No Cover, No Minimum – Free! George Pickard performs tonight, The Nighthawks entertain Thursday through Saturday nights, NFL Football is on Sunday and Monday Nights and Dale Poune returns next Tuesday and Wednesday.  The Nighthawks are a local (Gardnerville/Wellington) country and rock band specializing in popular dance tunes from the 60's and 70's. The group performs a wide variety of styles covering artists from Alan Jackson to ZZ Top, including great classic country tunes and expert performances of classic rock songs.

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

• Tonight is Ladies’ Nights and the first 150 ladies to sign up receive a Free Bag of Peppermint Bark. Also on tap: ladies-only drink specials and Chocolate Shoppe Christmas Baskets as hot seat prizes.
• Days Are Getting Longer: Winter solstice was earlier this week so the days are getting longer . . . that’s a good enough reason for us to cover some early-season 2016 golf events either next week or the week after.
• Prime Rib Saturday, King Crab Sunday in CV Steak:  Our Saturday night special in CV Steak is Garlic Studded Prime Rib for $26 and Sunday's special is one pound of King Crab Legs for $32. Both 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.
• Because We Feel Like Mentioning It:
• Today is Festivus Day. If you are a Seinfeld fan, this is a big deal. If you were never into Seinfeld, or are too young to remember Seinfeld, we suggest you move along – there’s probably nothing here for you.
• Thursday is Eggnog Day which we bring up only because the link has an incredible recipe which you may find helpful if you are called on to make eggnog at the last minute on Christmas Eve.
• Monday is Card Playing Day. Blackjack or poker anyone? Not that motivated?? How about Video Poker?

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!

Santa Crawl, World's Fair in Katie's, Christmas Dining, More

Angela Shilling (KTVN), Bill Henderson (CVI),
Arianna Bennet (KTVN), Sarah Sanchez (CV Food Closet)

Food Drive Another Success:  Thank you to the thousand plus individuals and businesses who came out last Friday to donate and volunteer. The weather wasn’t perfect but that didn’t seem to dissuade the generosity of our community. After a long, cold and sometimes damp day, over 176,000 pounds of food and over $50,000 in cash (including $20,000 from the CVI) was collected for the Carson Valley Community Food Closet – both totals are an increase over the 2014 event. Also, 58 units of blood were donated with life-saving potential for over 150 lives. For a pictorial review of the day, click here to view the images put up by Megan Evertt, owner of Blank Slate Imagery. And for a summary of the full picture in northern Nevada including Reno, Carson City and Carson Valley, take a look at this KTVN wrap-up report.

No Cookies & Milk for These Santas!

Not to worry, there will be plenty of other ways to lift Santa's "spirits" at the Gardnerville Santa Crawl this Saturday from 6 PM to 8 PM in downtown Gardnerville and you can bet that Sharkey's Casino and our Silver Dollar Bar will be right in the middle of the fun! The Gardnerville Santa Crawl was started a few years ago by Troy Phillips (a certified Sommelier) at Battle Born Wine and Ryan Lamb (protector of the infamous Picon Punch recipe) at J. T. Basque Bar & Dining Room.  Their mission was simple: raise some money for local charities and stir up some business right before Christmas. Over the years, they have succeeded in both! To participate, simply go to one of the startup points (Battle Born Wine and The Overland this year) and donate $10.00.  You'll receive a card with logos of all the participating businesses which are the Overland, JT, Battle Born, French Bar, Buckaroo's Saloon, Sharkey's Casino and Nevada Ugly. All that money will go equally to Austin's House and the Carson Valley Community Food Closet, two local organizations which receive annual support from the Carson Valley Inn.

The card will entitle you to drink specials at these 7 locations. Whether you imbibe or not, simply show your card to the bartender or host at each of the participating establishments and they'll give you their official signoff. Once you have verified your presence at all 7 locations your card will be eligible for drawings for prizes supplied by the participating businesses. As for your $10 "entry fee," all that money will go equally to Austin's House and the Carson Valley Community Food Closet, two local organizations which receive annual support from the Carson Valley Inn.

World’s Fair Comes to Katie’s: The Exposition Universelle of 1900 was a world's fair held in Paris, France from April 15 to November 12, 1900 to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate development into the next.  We’ve tried to capture just a bit of the spirit – with a seasonal Christmas twist – in our Paris Turn of the Century World’s Fair Christmas Tree located in the middle of the main Katie’s dining area. Among the many ornaments are hats, Paris scenes, bird cages, feathers, Victorian ornaments, a Ferris wheel and even a silver Hidden Mickey. The tree was decorated at floor level and it took four strong men to lift it into place. Just who does all this Christmas decorating at the Carson Valley Inn? How long does it take? We’ll tell you more about the people and the process in next week’s blog on Wednesday, December 23.

Christmas Dinner Specials in Katie’s and CV Steak: Garlic-Studded Slow-Roasted Prime Rib of Beef or Fillet of Sole Stuffed with Crab, Shrimp and Scallops in CV Steak . . . and a Traditional Roasted Turkey Dinner or Applewood Smoked Molasses and Five Peppercorn Crusted Pork Loin in Katie’s.  For times, prices, accompaniments and all of the other details, click here. Oh, and of course we’ll also serve all of our regular menu items on Christmas Day in both restaurants . . . just the usual Friday Night Specials will not be available. If you’d rather have Christmas Day dinner at home with the family, we have a solution for that approach also: our Christmas Turkey Dinner To Go for Up to 10 People.  

Reminder to Get Your New Blue Bordered INN Club Card: We have finished switching our slot management software and all of the player card readers. INN Club cards with the red border no longer work and everyone who has not already done so needs to stop by so we can print you a new blue bordered Inn Club . . . . you’ll also need to reset or change your PIN number. Your point balance remains the same, all the benefits remain the same, you just need a new card!

Race and Sports Book:

• This week you can watch and bet NFL and College Football, Horseracing, NBA and College Basketball, and NHL Hockey.
• The PRO PK’EM jackpot is $4,556 on this week’s progressive parlay card.  
• Quick, what do the following words all have in common: Cure, Pinstripe, Potato and Military? They are the names of four of the 40 NCAA Bowl Games to be played over a 15 day period starting this Saturday. We'll be showing them all in our casino bar area . . . and taking action on the bowl games in our Sports Book. 

Cabaret Lounge Entertainment – No Cover, No Minimum – Free! Jonathon “JB” Barton performs tonight, everydaYSaints entertain Thursday, Stew Stewart and his band take the stage Friday and Saturday nights, NFL Football is on Sunday and Monday Nights and George Pickard returns next Tuesday and Wednesday.  everydaYSaints (yep, that's how they spell it)  recreate just the hits from your favorite modern country and pop artists. The group’s founders, singer/songwriters David Lee and Dale Nishizaki, are rounded out by Bea Valenzuela on vocals and Perry Capalbo on bass/vocals. Stew Stewart is our resident quick-witted, handsome (his opinion) and stingingly spontaneous resident Entertainment Manager. Always a crowd favorite with his ability to genuinely connect to the audience, a Stew Stewart show has something for everyone . . . country music, blues, oldies, comedy, classic rock, Motown and just plain ol' on-the-spot fun!  A Nevada entertainer for five decades (or is it six now?), Stew has settled into the Carson Valley after appearing at over 100 state and county fairs, many as the opening act for artists such as Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn, Marie Osmond, Herman's Hermits, The Drifters, The Coasters, Willie Nelson, Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, The Oak Ridge Boys and more!  Stew's band is a show in itself and they will be joined by Stew for his performances at 8 and 10 p.m. or whenever he moseys in!

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

• Tonight is Ladies’ Nights and the first 150 ladies to sign up receive a Free Christmas ornament and ladies-only drink specials. Hot Seat drawings tonight are World Market Gift Baskets.
• Chef's Choice Game Special Friday, Prime Rib Saturday, King Crab Sunday in CV Steak:  Our Friday Game Special this week wasn't available yet when this blog was posted - but the chef always has one! Saturday night its Garlic Studded Prime Rib for $26 and Sunday's special is one pound of King Crab Legs for $32. All these 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.
• Because We Feel Like Mentioning It:
• Today is Chocolate Covered Anything Day. Not sure what's been going on lately, but it seems just about every week there's a reason for us to bring up items we make in our bakery and sell at the CVI. Some of the chocolate covered items we offer: Chocolate covered fudge cake and brownies in Katie's, chocolate covered donuts in Job's Perk and chocolate covered lava cake and Grand Marnier cheesecake in CV Steak.  We're guessin' that the folks in CV Steak will probably drizzle chocolate on just about anything on Chocolate Covered Anything Day!
• Friday is Ugly Christmas Sweater Day. If it's so ugly that you can't wear it to the office, save it for the Santa Crawl in Gardnerville on Saturday night!
• Friday is also Bake Cookies Day. If you spent the whole day looking for your ugly Christmas sweater, don't worry: you can just stop by Katie's bakery counter or Job's perk – we've got plenty of Baked-at-the-Inn cookies for sale.
• Sunday is Games Day which was created 40 years ago in December, 1975. How remiss would we be if we did not mention that between the Carson Valley Inn, Bodines Casino and Sharkey's Casino we offer over 1000 games for you to play!
• Monday is National Flashlight Day. To celebrate, we have a free Carson Valley Inn flashlight for the first 12 people (as in the 12 Days of Christmas) who come to our Guest Services counter on Monday, December 21 (not before) and mention they read something about a free flashlight in our blog.
• Monday is also Short Story Day. The end. 

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!

Food Drive, New INN Club Cards, Thunderbirds Returning, More

Food Drive This Friday: Whether it is rain, sleet, snow or shine - or any combination of these - the  show goes on this Friday for the KTVN 22nd Annual Share Your Christmas Drive-By Food Drive from 6 AM to 6 PM in the CVI parking lot along Highway 395 between the hotel and the entrance to the RV Park.  Truth is the Carson Valley Community Food Closet operates all year no matter what the weather . . . and they count very heavily on the money and food collected at this event to help serve our community during the coming year.  Assuming the weather cooperates and no emergencies interfere; Santa will arrive by Care Flight helicopter at 9:30 AM and be on hand to visit with kids for as long as it takes to chat with them all. The Blood Drive runs from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Stop by and visit KTVN's Arianna Bennett, Angela Schilling & Ryan Canaday as you drop off food or money for the Carson Valley Community Food Closet.

Transitioning from Red to Blue: Sounds like some type of a major political party switch! That’s certainly not true because the Carson Valley Inn appreciates all of the business we receive from local organizations with ties to both sides of the aisle! The fact is that we are just about finished switching our slot management software which also entails changing out all of the player card readers. Because of this, the INN Club cards with the red border no longer work and everyone who has not already done so will need to stop by so we can print you a new blue bordered Inn Club card. The process is pretty simple: If you received one of our letters a week or two ago indicating that your card was ready, please stop at Guest Services. If you didn’t get a letter, or you have a fear of Guest Services counters, we’ve set up a special station in the pit (at least thru this Thursday) with a couple of card printers and keypads to reset your PIN number.  Don’t let all this cause you any concern . . . Your point balance remains the same and all the benefits remain the same, you just need a new card!

Speaking of Blue, the USAF Thunderbirds Are Returning in 2017! It’s almost 2 years away, but it’s worth putting on your calendar: The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds had such a good time here this past summer that they’ve inked Minden-Tahoe Airport on their schedule again for 2017, usurping the US Navy Blue Angels in the process (“Hey, this one is our show” they are purported to have said)! The dates are Saturday and Sunday, October 7 and 8, 2017 and there will be a major presentation difference in their show operating procedures next time . . . . more on that as the date draws closer.

Let Us Cook Christmas Dinner For You!

Christmas Dinner to Go: After a  a sellout at Thanksgiving we’re continuing the "let us do it for you" approach for Christmas by offering a Christmas Turkey Dinner To Go. The basics are pretty straightforward: we prepare a full holiday dinner for 8 to 10 people and have it ready for you to pick up on Christmas Day between 10 AM and 1 PM. What’s included? How much is it? How do you order?  All good questions – Click Here for the full story and be sure to get your order in early as we do have a limit.

As Close As We’ll Come to an Ugly Christmas Sweater Event: It’s really not us, it’s our sister property down at Sharkey’s Casino  . . . they tend to be a little more loosey-goosey! Seems Sharkey’s is one of seven pubs involved in the Gardnerville Santa Crawl on Saturday, December 19 and Santa hats, holiday sweaters and other seasonal garb (both tasteful and questionable) are all to be seen. We’ll give you more details and some of the back story in next week’s blog.

Typical Friday Night Game in CVI Poker Room

Poker Room 11^th Birthday Friday: No, we're not going to be wearing silly birthday hats and play Pin the Tail on the Donkey (is it even politically correct these days to say that?). And we're not going to celebrate with an outdoor poker game like you see in the picture. We'll be shaking off  a couple of cold and wet days with a warm and friendly gathering  in our poker room this Friday to celebrate 11 years of live poker at the Inn. There is a $50 high-hand prize every half hour from 3:00 to 8:00 PM (that's $500 total), free CVI Poker Hat to anyone who stacks or cracks their aces to the showdown (seriously, crew, how do you come up with these terms?!), birthday cake starting around 4 PM and a $100 cash drawing at 9 PM (yea, ya gotta be there) for anyone who’s played 30 minutes or more on Friday. Whether you're a regular or first timer, we invite you to stop by, grab a seat, and enjoy the camaraderie of our CVI poker family.

Race and Sports Book:

• This week you can watch and bet NFL and College Football, Horseracing, NBA and College Basketball, and NHL Hockey. We will also be taking action on some of the UFC fights coming up over the next few days.
• The PRO PK’EM jackpot is $4,444 on this week’s progressive parlay card. Four 4s in a row must have some luck significance for someone who can parlay this into picking all 15 props and winning the jackpot!
• This weekend's NCAA college football schedule includes the traditional Army-Navy Game on Saturday and the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) quarterfinal games on Friday and Saturday.
• The oddsmakers simply scratched their head over the 49er/Browns game on Sunday. They couldn’t seem to come to a consensus on a favorite so, at least as of the time we wrote this blog, it was a pick’em game.

Henry Fisher aka Aladdin

Cabaret Lounge Entertainment – No Cover, No Minimum – Free! Josh Budro performs tonight, Henry Fisher's Soul Persuaders entertain Thursday thru and Saturday nights, NFL Football is on Sunday and Monday Nights and Jonathon “JB” Barton returns next Tuesday and Wednesday. Henry Fisher's Soul Persuaders is a unique group of musicians who decided to blend together the sounds of the Motor City and Oakland, CA to develop "Sweet, Grown & Sexy" sounds - music from the 60’s to the present.  Aladdin handles lead vocal and percussion. He is joined by Les Carter on vocals and drums, Phil Weaver on vocals and guitar and Fred Williams on bass.

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

• Tonight is Ladies’ Nights and the first 150 ladies to sign up receive a Free Christmas ornament and ladies-only drink specials. Due to the slot system transition going on this week, we won’t have the usual hot seat prizes but we will have special drawings for Cash and Country Wine Gift Baskets.
• Duck Friday, Prime Rib Saturday, King Crab Sunday in CV Steak:  Our Friday Special this week is Maple Leaf Farms Grilled Duck Breast marinated with fresh herbs for $28. Saturday night its Garlic Studded Prime Rib for $26 and Sunday's special is one pound of King Crab Legs for $32. All these 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.
• Because We Feel Like Mentioning It:
• Today is Pastry Day and we would be remiss if we didn't again provide a link to the various baked-at-the-Inn cakes, pies, brownies and cookies that are available at our bakery counter at the Katie's entrance. We'll also mention that other pastries such as bear claws, muffins and donuts are made fresh daily and displayed and ready to tempt you in Job's Perk.
• Tuesday is Cat Herders Day. Finally a day - while dubious in its origin and authenticity - supposedly created by someone to recognize the frustration of trying to manage the unmanageable!

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!

Christmas Inn and Around the Carson Valley Inn

Tis the Christmas Season at the Carson Valley Inn: Christmas is fully visible at the CVI with our exterior decorations, Candy Cane Lane and the interior décor in the hotel lobby, Katie’s and CV Steak. The tree pictured is located in the hotel lobby and is themed after the Disney musical fantasy “Frozen.” Look closely when you stop by, you will see Elsa, Anna, Olaf and Sven. As for the Hidden Mickeys from last year – and the associated contest – a funny thing happened. Seems those Hidden Mickeys use special mouse-friendly glue and, because we had such a mild winter last year, all the glue melted and many of the more elaborate “Hidden Mickey” ornaments were not usable this year. Of course a fib like that will get us on Santa’s “Naughty” list (see Because We Feel Like Mentioning It below), so please don’t believe it. Truth is that we did lose some of the decorations to normal wear and tear and, while there are still a few Hidden Mickey decorations here and there, we will not be having the contest this year.

Speaking of Candy Cane Lane: Our thanks go out to Joey Crandall at carsonvalleytimes.com who captured and posted this 30-second visual and audio “taste” of part of Candy Cane Lane.  Just pull in near our RV park entrance and drive through as often as you like this month.  Accompanying music can be heard by tuning your car radio to 89.9 FM.

Before We Wrap Up the Christmas Subject: there are quite a few local Christmas activities going on this weekend including Town Christmas Tree Lightings, Breakfast with Santa, the 20^th Annual Parade of Lights, and more. We’ve taken a page on our website and listed a multitude of Christmas activities along with a link to more information where it is available. There’s more next weekend including the KTVN 22nd Annual Share Your Christmas Drive-By Food Drive on Friday, December 11 from 6 AM to 6 PM right here at the CVI.

Poker Pitching Tops 4,000! Over 4000 days, that is . . . that’s how long we’ve been pitching cards in our Poker Room since we opened in December of 2004. So, we’re lining up two aces side by side to signify 11 years and we're having an 11^th Birthday Party next Friday, December 11 . . . cake, prizes and more! Ready to go back and look at the picture again?  Not quite right, is it!! Speaking of live poker, our monthly Ladies Only Poker Tournament is this Sunday with action starting at 4 p.m.

Race and Sports Book:

• This week you can watch and bet NFL and College Football, Horseracing, NBA and College Basketball, and NHL Hockey.
• The PRO PK’EM jackpot is $4,334 on this week’s progressive parlay card.
• The football spotlight will definitely be on the NCAA Conference Championship Games this Saturday. With multiple games happening at once, especially in the early evening, a sure way to track them all is to plant yourself in our casino bar area so you can scan them all at once.
• Our sports book crew is thinking about posting an over/under prop on how many NFL games will be decided by errant referee calls this Sunday. If we did do this (no, we won't) and we set it at 1/2, would you bet the over or the under? How about at 1 1/2? 

Cabaret Lounge Entertainment – No Cover, No Minimum – Free! John Palmore performs tonight, Tony Vee entertains Thursday thru and Saturday nights, NFL Football is on Sunday and Monday Nights and Josh Budro returns next Tuesday and Wednesday. John Palmore served as Musical Director for the late "Louis Armstrong,"  Tony Vee is an energetic and exciting four-member, all-male band filling the cabaret lounge with music from the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s as they perform Rhythm & Blues, Top 40, Rock and Roll, Old & New School Medleys and even some Classic Rock. Lead Vocalist Tony Vee specializes in music from Motown, Barry White, Kool and The Gang, Huey Lewis and many other R & B artists. Vocalist, song writer and guitarist Josh Budro occasionally performs with his entire band on weekends in our cabaret lounge. We are pleased to have him here for a few nights performing solo next week with some of his own material, some country rock and some of the old country music he grew up on (Waylon, Willie, Hank, Merle). Click for a full schedule of free Cabaret Lounge entertainment for the month of December.

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

• Tonight is Ladies’ Nights and the first 150 ladies to sign up receive a Free Christmas ornament and ladies-only drink specials. The half-dozen Hot Seat Prizes tonight are Bath and Body Works Baskets with a holiday season fragrance theme.
• Boar Friday, Prime Rib Saturday, King Crab Sunday in CV Steak: Our Friday Special this week is Beer Braised Wild Boar Shanks for $28. Saturday night its Garlic Studded Prime Rib for $26 and Sunday's special is one pound of King Crab Legs for $32. All these 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.
• Because We Feel Like Mentioning It (all tie back to the CVI!!):
• Santa's List Day is today - a perfect reason to take your kids through Candy Cane Lane this evening. If they've been nice, it's a good reward. If they've been naughty, this might get them into the Christmas spirit and turn their behavior around (we hear it works on teenagers and adults, too!)
• Bartender Appreciation Day is also today – a great opportunity for us to thank all of our bar staff whether they are bartenders, bar backs, cocktail servers or the people who clean up all the barware.
• Dice Day is today, but we invite you to celebrate tomorrow and every Thursday with Free Craps Lessons at our dice table starting at 5 PM.
• Thursday is Repeal Day marking the day in 1933 that the 18th Amendment was repealed lifting the ban on the production and consumption of alcohol. So, if you missed Bartender Appreciation Day on Wednesday, you have two reasons celebrate on Thursday. And if you are still celebrating Bartender Appreciation Day on Thursday, carry on!!
• Tuesday is National Brownie Day. We know many people who think this should be celebrated darn near every day of the year! Whenever you choose to have your chocolate fix, we have brownies and many other baked products available for sale at the Bakery counter at the entrance to Katie's.

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!