Gary Allan Tickets On Sale, Sharkey's Casino Update, CVI 5th Anniversary, Much More

Gary Allan Concert Tickets On Sale!

We were going to take a week off from mentioning anything about the Aviation Roundup on August 22 and 23 featuring the USAF Thunderbirds . . . But in viewing Gary Allan's top-10 hit Watching Airplanes (video above) . . . Well, the two subjects just tied together. Anyway, tickets for the June 4 Gary Allan concert in TJ's Corral are on sale and we hope you'll plan to attend! As for the other concerts we covered last week: the Merle Haggard concert on May 1 is sold out – Thank You to all who bought tickets as your support of our concerts helps us bring in more artists to the incredible mountain-view setting of TJ's Corral.  A list of  our six concerts lined up so far are at this link. In addition to the two concerts mentioned above, you can click through to information on  The Davisson Brothers Band (June 12), Rodney Atkins  (June 27), 38 Special  (July 23) and Mo Bandy and TG Sheppard (August 8).

The Outside Sign Shows Up Again - Now Inside in a Most Unusual Location!

When Is Sharkey's Going to Open?! 

This is the most common question we hear these days at the Carson Valley Inn. The way things have been progressing in the last week, we are unofficially projecting we will be open before the end of April - a purposely vague projection because we will open as soon as we're ready! Some more things still have fall into place, but the rapid progress gives us cause for optimism.

In the next few days, you'll see more visible outside progress as some of the signage starts

One of the Many Chalk Witticisms
Over the Counter in Sharkey's Restaurant

going up and the paving begins on the lot immediately adjacent to the building. Inside, carpeting will start being installed as soon as it arrives later this week or early next week. The bar is just about completed and the booths for the restaurant have all arrived . . . But there's much more still to do over the next couple of weeks. There's that small matter of all the slots and videos to be delivered, installed and connected. There are many more decorative and memorabilia-related items to go up on the walls and in the nooks and crannies.

The coordinated efforts of the many trades and subcontractors will soon give way to a well-choreographed "step over each other gingerly" performance by the various vendors whose products and services bring us down the home stretch towards the finish line of opening.

So why haven't we been touting all of the features of Sharkey's and profusely blabbing about how great it will be? The answer is simple: if you have never had the honor of watching Mike Pegram and his architect, Larry Henry, do a project like this, you just simply can't appreciate how much time, thought and creativity goes into taking advantage of every opportunity to make improvements along the way. What we might've announced as something "really cool" a couple of weeks ago has now been tweaked into an approach that even better preserves the history of the location, the legacy of Sharkey Begovich or the customer experience. So, just take our word that the final product will be unique, comfortable and an exceptional "no corners cut" addition to the core corner of Gardnerville!

5 Years Already??? Yep, it's actually been over 5 years since Mike Pegram and his partners bought the Carson Valley Inn. The first few months were a frenzy of remodeling, refurbishing, refreshing and rejuvenation . . . so we had the grand opening of the casino in April of 2010. Next week, we are celebrating our 5^th Anniversary under Mike's ownership so please join us on Tuesday, April 14 for double points from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., free cake and champagne in the casino from 1 to 2 p.m. and again from 7 to 8 p.m., and free anniversary t-shirts distributed randomly throughout the day while they last. Then come back on Wednesday, April 15 for five times points from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Free Entertainment in the Cabaret Lounge: Our resident entertainment manager Stew Stewart has been lining up some new acts for our Cabaret Lounge and two of them are performing this weekend.

• Jonathan "JB" Barton finishes up his four-day stint tonight.
• The Kool Shifters Band is in for one night Thursday with a great mix of music from the 60's, 70's, 80's, country, blues and swing. 
• River Road takes the stage on Friday and Saturday nights entertaining with their diverse backgrounds in country, pop, rock, R&B and jazz.
• Steve Lord handles the early week gig Sunday through Wednesday.
• And just a little peek ahead: on Thursday, April 16 we will be featuring Karaoke with Anthony Janssen.

Breakfast Wars: Joey Crandall, the man behind carsonvalleytimes.com is at it again with another Food War – this time it's Breakfast Wars and two popular Katie's favorites are on the nomination ballot: Our Giant Ham Steak & Eggs and our Chicken Fried Steak & Eggs. These hard-to-beat specials are worthy of your vote by 5 p.m. this Friday, April 10. Sure we are biased, but your positive comments have been numerous! 

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

• Mike's Horses: Horse racing – not for the faint of heart . . . Mike had four horses scheduled to run at Santa Anita last weekend. One scratched, two finished out of the money, and one took first place. The light at the end of the tunnel? The winner's name was Gimme The Lute!!
• Best of Nevada: Voting ends April 17 so please indulge us this last request to give us your consideration in the Best Casino, Best Hotel and Best Restaurant (CV Steak) categories in the Nevada Magazine Best of Nevada poll.
• Wednesday Ladies' Night 5:30 to 8:30 PM: The first 150 ladies to sign up tonight receive the second set of three April kitchen utensils.  Also enjoy hot seat drawings for gift baskets from the Blue Cow, ladies-only drink specials, a ladies-only slot tournament and more.
• Field Set for Free Roll Poker Tournament: The action starts Saturday at 11:30 a.m. and a full field of 40 will compete for $2,000 after qualifying in February and March. Just one of the many special games and promotions in our Poker Room!
• The April CVI Blackjack Tournament is Tuesday, April 14 with all entry fees and re-buys going to the prize fund. Sign-ups are from 5 to 6 p.m. and the tournament starts at 6:00 p.m. The tournament is open to all INN Club members and the prize pool is distributed to the top three finishers.
• Braised Buffalo Short Ribs in CV Steak:  Our Friday Game Special this week is Braised Buffalo Short Ribs; one and a half pounds of American Bison short ribs braised and slow cooked finished with natural pan sauce, served served with tableside-tossed salad, vegetable and your choice of potato - au gratin, baked, or a one-pound, twice-baked potato . . . all for $29.00.
• We Thought You Should Know: Thursday is Name Yourself Day – apparently the one day of the year you can change your name for the day. Friday is Golfer’s Day when we celebrate, not the game itself, but the men and women who play it . . . including the few thousand golfers who stay at the CVI each season while playing our area courses and taking advantage of our group packages or special events like the upcoming Spring Stag. Sunday is Walk On Your Wild Side Day - a chance to do something no one would ever expect you to (like read all the way to the end of our weekly 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!

Four More Concerts Announced, Secret Circle a Big Winner, Easter at the Inn, Much More

Some of this broke at the last minute yesterday so please excuse us not getting all the concerts in order by date!

• 38 Special Concert July 23: Hold On Loosely is just one of the many Southern Rock hits 38 Special will be performing live in TJ's Corral on Thursday Night, July 23. With sales in excess of 20 million, most associate the band with this and other arena-rock pop smashes such as  “Rockin’ Into the Night,” “Caught Up in You,” “Fantasy Girl,” “If I’d Been the One,” “Back Where You Belong,” “Chain Lightnin’,” “Second Chance,” and more. Watch for ticket information soon and make your plans to attend!
• The Davisson Brothers Band June 12: An up and coming group with a unique style fusing a blend of country, southern rock, and bluegrass to create a distinctive sound that, combined with the band's talent and energy, has gained them an incredibly loyal and rapidly growing fan base. The band recently worked with acclaimed producer Keith Stegall on their first national single Jesse James.
• Gary Allan Concert June 4:  Tickets will go on sale on Wednesday, April 8.
• Merle Haggard May 1: SOLD OUT . . . However, we will be putting a few Standing Room Only tickets on sale today.
• Mo Bandy and TG Sheppard August 8: Both Mo Bandy and TG Sheppard Sold Out when they last appeared in the Carson Valley Inn's Valley Ballroom . . . so we're bringing them together in the much larger TJ's Corral for a special concert night featuring both artists!
• Rodney Atkins June 27:  Atkins has received six nominations from the Academy of Country Music and two from the Country Music Association, winning Top New Male Vocalist from the former in 2006. His #1 hits include "If You're Going Through Hell (Before the Devil Even Knows)," "Watching You," "These Are My People," "Cleaning This Gun (Come On In Boy)" and "It's America." 

Mikes Horses: two of Mike Pegram's horses were in the winner's circle last weekend: Secret Circle won the $2 Million Dubai Golden Shaheen on Saturday and Five Palms finished first in a race at Santa Anita on Thursday. All was not roses at Santa Anita as Chasintheaces finished out of the money and Secretsatmidnight was a last-minute scratch. Mike has more horses running this week at Santa Anita. The crew at our Race & Sports Book can tell you the particulars and and we'll give you an update in next week's blog. Kudos to Steve Coburn's California Chrome who put up a valiant effort and finished second in the $10 Million Dubai World Cup last Saturday. 

Car Winner Takes Magic Carpet Ride: Helen Brownfield won the Chevy Sonic at CVI on Saturday but decided to take the $10,000 Cash to help pay for new carpeting and flooring this spring. Interesting story about Helen: she was not planning to come to the CVI on Sunday night, but her husband talked her into it because she had two Golden Tickets for the car drawing. She acquiesced, they both came in and she was playing the penny slots. When the last finalist's name was called it was not hers. However, that person was not present (spouse not as persistent?) so one more name was called . . . Helen's and she wound up being the grand prize winner! Throw whatever cliché you want at this situation but it's proof once again that "it's never over till it's over!"

Poker News:

• Tournament Winners: Donna Negrey and Janice Tucker "chopped it two ways" at the end of
  
  our Ladies Bounty Tournament last Sunday. For those non-poker players (like the guy writing this blog), that means they were the only two left and agreed to split the first and second place prize money between the two of them.  Veronica Pardee finished third.  The next monthly ladies-only tournament is on Sunday, May 3.
• Special Stuff: The crew in the poker room continues to make improvements to their growing list of promotions and special games. The newest is Aces Cracked Spins the Wheel on Wednesdays. Monday and Friday night cash drawings have also been tweaked slightly. You can get all the information on the poker room promotions and special games at this link.

April at the Inn:

• Katie's Nightly Dinner Specials (2 to 10 p.m.) have a new twist on Tuesdays: we'll have a different Chef's Special every Tuesday, always tasty and always value priced. The popular Prime Rib Dinner special continues on Friday and Saturday nights and we've also added a second special: Charbroiled Salmon, a fresh boneless, skinless filet charbroiled with lemon, garlic and butter and served with rice and vegetable for $9.99. Click for more on all the Nightly Katie's Dinner Specials.
• The CV Steak Sunset Specials continue to be a hard-to-beat dining value at just $19. The Sunset Specials are available from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday nights.
• $50,000 Cash & FreePlay Giveaways with drawings on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights highlights our April Casino promotions. Also in the mix: spell CA$H days, ladies nights, 3X points days, 5th Anniversary extras, the monthly blackjack tournament and more.

Easter at the Inn:

• CV Steak is open for dinner on Easter Sunday from 4:30 p.m. In addition to the regular CV Steak menu, two Easter dinner specials will be offered: The Duet of Filet Mignon and King Crab includes a 6 oz. Filet Mignon with Green Peppercorn Sauce and Half Pound of King Crab Claws with legs, drawn butter and lemon for $36.  The Grilled Salmon Oscar includes crab meat, asparagus, béarnaise sauce and port wine glaze for $29. For CV Steak reservations, call 775-783-6650.  Note: The Sunset Menu is not available on Easter Sunday.
• Katie's is offering two Easter Sunday dinner specials from noon to 9 p.m.: Baked Ham with orange glaze and rice pilaf for $12.99 and Roast Leg of Lamb with minted pan gravy and mashed potatoes for $14.99.
• Get the Easter Menus for both restaurants by clicking here.

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

• Tickets Now on Sale for the Aviation Roundup: we've been writing a lot about the Aviation Roundup on August 22 and 23 and its cast of performers including the USAF Thunderbirds. Tickets are now on sale on the Aviation Roundup website.
• Job Opportunities: The always-helpful staff in our HR Department asked that we remind our blog readers that we still have openings here at the Carson Valley Inn and also at the soon-to-open Sharkey's. Your best bet: stop by the HR office at the Carson Valley Inn or call 775-783-6663.
• Wednesday Ladies' Night 5:30 to 8:30 PM: The first 150 ladies to sign up tonight receive the first set of three kitchen utensils . . . a total of 12 such utensils will be given away on Wednesdays in April.  Also enjoy hot seat drawings for Chocolate Shoppe Baskets (what else on Easter week!), ladies-only drink specials, a ladies-only slot tournament and more.
• Roasted Rack of 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 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.
• Free Entertainment in the Cabaret Lounge: George Pickard is here tonight, American Made entertains Thursday thru Saturday and Jonathan "JB" Barton takes the stage Sunday through Wednesday nights. The NCAA Final Four Games? Of course we'll hold the entertainment 'til the end of the game on Saturday and Monday nights and we'll also take your action in the Race & Sports Book!
• We Thought You Should Know: Thursday, April 2 is Tell a Lie Day which we find puzzling since today, April 1, is the day on which people tend to stretch the truth in order to create foolery!  Saturday is Pillow Fight Day but you can avoid such a skirmish buy exercising the privileges of Walk Around Things Day which is also on Saturday. Finally, Tuesday, April 7 is No Housework Day . . . so just plan on spending the day at the Carson Valley Inn.

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!