KTVN Food Drive Friday, Mike's Horses, Sharkey's Casino, Christmas Dining, More

Mike's Horses and Sharkey's: Tiz Midnight, with jockey Victor Espinoza aboard,  won the $200,000 Bayakoa Stakes at Los Alamitos last Saturday for owner Mike Pegram and trainer Bob Baffert . . . that's two weeks in a row with one of Mike's horses in the winner's circle! And in the middle of those two weekends, Mike and the local community were the winners of another sort when the lack of other bidders landed the now-closed Sharkey's Casino in Gardnerville in Mike's hands. Watch for extensive renovations, a refreshed look inside and out, a fun business plan and a solid employer on the main corner in Gardnerville! When? March of 2015 if all goes well . . . and we'll keep you updated on the progress and the employment possibilities in this weekly blog! Back to Mike's horses - a couple more are running this weekend at Los Alamitos . . . we'll keep you "posted."

KTVN Channel 2 Share Your Christmas Community Food Drive: The Carson Valley's largest food drive is this Friday right outside the Carson Valley Inn at the entrance to our RV resort where you can drive-by and donate food and/or money anytime between 6 AM and 6 PM. The KTVN crew and hundreds of volunteers will be here rain or shine. Even though it looks like the "shine" part may be minimal this year, please come by and donate anyway . . . Possible inclement weather this Friday doesn't change the need to help feed our community's hungry over the coming year!

• Here are some last-minute tips for making donations at other locations which will wind up at the food drive this Friday - but remember, we would also like to see you this Friday!
• You can buy a bag of groceries valued at over $25 at Raley's for $10 and here's a bonus: the register receipt from Raley's clearly shows the $10 is a tax-deductible donation.
• The Towns of Minden and Gardnerville are both collecting food this week on your regular trash days. Check the details in the carsonvalleytimes.com article at this link.
• If your trash is picked up by Douglas Disposal, they also have a program going on this week and details are on their website.
• As for our KTVN On-Air crew and the question we posed last week:  Chloe Beardsley enjoys
  
  coaching basketball and working with animals, Adam Varahachaikol enjoys cooking and traveling to San Francisco, and Arianna Bennett harbors a healthy obsession with Lake Tahoe!
• Blood Drive Also Friday: If you are able, please donate at the United Blood Services Bloodmobile this Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the site of the Food Drive. To schedule an appointment or find out more, click here. 

Hidden Mickey Decorations Drawing Interest:  Our Hidden Mickey Contest for a CV Steak $100 Dining Credit is definitely drawing interest and entries. So, if you are visiting CVI, why not throw your name into the hat (up to 9 times) for this drawing? The more Hidden Mickeys (Mickey Mouse Ear Christmas Decorations) you find, the higher your chances of winning! All it takes to enter is to wander around the CVI, keep your eyes open as you look at our Christmas decorations, jot down the location of the Hidden Mickey Christmas decorations, and send us an email by clicking here. You'll be entered once for each correct location you identify before our drawing on December 23 - we'll announce the winner in our December 24 Blog.

Christmas at the Inn:  let's start with the assumption that on Christmas Day, you are either going out to eat – as in to a restaurant – or you're eating at home, whether it's your home, at a friend's house or you're going over to the relatives. If you plan to go out to eat, we have two Christmas Day dining choices: Katie's or CV Steak. Both are serving their regular menu choices at regular everyday prices on Christmas Day – plus both restaurants have Christmas Day Specials for an additional holiday touch! If you plan to eat at home or at someone else's house, you – or someone – is faced with a lot of work buying the food, prepping, cooking and tackling one heck of the cleanup project both as you go along and after everyone is finished. We have a way to minimize a lot of this work: choose one of our three Christmas Dinners to Go . . . Prime rib, turkey, or ham for 8 to 12 people! Is there a little bit of heat-up preparation? Sure, but our instructions tell you just how. Do you still have dishes to cleanup afterwards? Yep, but the overall process is a whole lot less time-consuming than doing it all yourself!  Whether you choose to go out to a restaurant or have Christmas dinner at home, we have a number of choices here at the Carson Valley Inn . . . so, consider letting us help you enjoy more time with your family and friends on Christmas Day!

Poker Room Celebrates 10 Years:  it's been just about 10 years since we started dealing live poker here at the CVI so our Poker Room is celebrating its 10th anniversary on December 19! We'll have cash drawings, free cake and champagne, and the first 100 players in the poker room on December 19 will receive a free 10th Anniversary Commemorative Poker Chip/Card Protector.

Best Sandwich Contest Crowded: The carsonvalleytimes.com "Sandwich Wars" now has over 50 sandwiches in the running including four Katie's favorites: The Big Bird, The French Dip, The Nevadan and The Monte Cristo. We are not fans of ballot box stuffing, but will gladly accept your vote for any of these four sandwiches that you feel are worthy. Thanks!

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

• A Toys for Tots donation box is near our Hotel Desk.
• December Blackjack Tournament Winners: it happens every month on the second Tuesday and last night's blackjack tournament winners were David Bailey (1st for $625), David Myers (2nd for $375) and  Richard Leigh (3rd for $250). It's just a $25 entry fee and the next monthly contest is Tuesday, January 13.
• Free Entertainment in the Cabaret: Paul Covarelli appears tonight, Jo Mama with Special Guest Stew Stewart is here Thursday, Friday & Saturday nights, NFL Football has the spotlight Sunday and Monday nights and George Pickard entertains Tuesday and Wednesday.
• Ladies Night Giveaways: Tonight's Hot Seat winners will receive a Costco gift basket and the first 150 ladies to check in tonight will receive a bracelet. Reminder, Ladies' Night now starts at 5:30 p.m.  To have your business featured on one of our Ladies' Nights (we do pay you for the prizes); call Stephanie at 775-783-7711.
• Jackpot Update:
• The Pro PK'em Progressive is $4,222 for this weekend's NFL games. That'll buy Christmas gifts for the whole family in most cases. Just a $5 play is all it takes to have a shot!
• The Penny Progressive Jackpot was approaching $57,000 late yesterday afternoon. That will buy a new-car type Christmas present if it hits on a max-coin (90 pennies) bet! 
• This Week's Game-On Fridays special in CV Steak is Roasted Rack of Venison with Cherry Port Sauce: A 4-bone venison rack seasoned with fresh herbs and roasted to your specs (Chef Patrick does not recommend cooking temps over medium). As always, 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! 

Do You Talk Back?! 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!

Snow Arrives, Valley Horses Do Well, Food Drive, New Community Center, More

Now That We Have Some Snow in the Area:  Keep doin' the dance 'cause it's working as we saw some significant snow in the Tahoe area this week and the ski resorts are opening more of their terrain every day (see proof on Heavenly web cams).  We had no doubt (OK, we had a little doubt), so the Carson Valley Inn's 2014/2015 Ski Packages are ready to book!  We also have a special Epic Pass Hotel Rate for those who have one of the 2014/2015 Epic Passes for the northern Nevada Vail Resorts properties which include Heavenly, Kirkwood and Northstar.  Also, keep an eye open for a special ski package on the weekend after the Super Bowl . . . more to come.

California Chrome Wins Big, CVI Owner Mike Pegram's Horses Also Do Well: Horse racing had quite a local tie this past weekend from California to Kentucky to New York! Mike Pegram's colt Hoppertunity, a 2014 Kentucky Derby favorite who was scratched days before the Derby with a foot bruise, roared back with a win in the Grade 1 $500,000 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs last Friday. On Saturday, Mike's past Breeders' Cup winner Secret Circle finished 2^nd in the Cigar Mile at Aqueduct Park in New York. Meanwhile, on the West Coast, Steve and Carolyn Colby's California Chrome won the Hollywood Derby at Delmar. And on Sunday, Midnight Hawk came in third in his race at Delmar. "Hawk" is owned by Mike in partnership with Chicago Blackhawks Coach Joel Quenneville, Blackhawks assistant coach Mike Kitchen, Altanta Falcons offensive line coach Mike Tice, and John Sikura's Hill 'n' Dale Equine Holdings. Oh, one more: Mike's SECRETSATMIDNIGHT won the previous Saturday, November 22 at Delmar.

It's Christmas Kickoff Weekend in the Carson Valley with plenty of visual and experiential events guaranteed to get you into the holiday spirit.

• Here at the Carson Valley Inn, Candy Cane Lane is lit up nightly through December – enter at the large electronic sign and follow the lighted arch. Inside the CVI, our Christmas decorations are all up, so be sure to check them out.
• The Dangberg Home Ranch for the Holidays Toy Exhibit runs through December 10 from 10 am to 4 pm.
• The Gardnerville Christmas Tree Lighting and Fireworks are Thursday evening at Heritage Park.
• Caroling, Tree Lighting and Santa are all on the docket Friday evening in Genoa.
• The Minden Gazebo and Tree Lighting Festivities are also Friday evening in Downtown Minden and Minden Park, just a short walk from the CVI.
• Breakfast with Santa is Saturday morning at the Genoa Town Hall
• The Douglas County Historical Society Annual Holiday Gala is midday Saturday at the Carson Valley Museum and Cultural Center
• The Carson Valley Chamber's Annual Parade of Lights is Saturday evening ending in Downtown Minden.

The KTVN Channel 2 Share Your Christmas Community Food Drive is coming up fast on Friday, December 12 at the RV Park entrance from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.  United Blood Services is again holding a Blood Drive from 11:30 to 5:30 at the site of the Food Drive. To schedule an appointment or find out more, click here.  And if you absolutely can't make it next Friday to donate food, you can always buy a $10 bag (or a few) at the Gardnerville Raley's – all that food winds up at the Food Drive that afternoon.  As for our KTVN On-Air crew of Adam, Chloe and Arianna . . . guess which one enjoys cooking and traveling to San Francisco, which one enjoys coaching basketball and working with animals, and which one harbors a healthy obsession with Lake Tahoe?

Hidden Mickeys Can Bring You $100 Worth of Food and Beverage in CV Steak: This is a pretty simple "contest." Mixed in among the many hundreds of Christmas decorations inside the Carson Valley Inn are 9 Mickey Mouse themed Christmas ornaments. In Disney parlance, these are called Hidden Mickeys. So how does this tie to $100 Worth of Food and Beverage in CV Steak? For every correct location you identify (shoot us an email by clicking here) before the deadline, you'll be entered once into our Hidden Mickey contest. We'll hold a drawing on December 23 and the winner will be notified by email. $100 in CV Steak goes a long way . . . So why not look around and let us know where you see our Christmas Hidden Mickeys.

Reno Shuttle Going Well: The folks at Amador Stage Lines told us that the Carson Valley Airporter scheduled shuttle service between the Carson Valley and Reno is going very well. Make you plans now to use this service if you are flying out of town for Christmas or New Years.  Also a great way for out-of-town visitors to get between the Reno Airport and Carson Valley!

New Senior and Community Center: Congratulations to Douglas County on the long-anticipated opening of the Douglas County Community and Senior Center this Saturday! The Grand Opening and Open House starts at 1:00 p.m. at the impressive new facility at 1329 Waterloo Lane in Gardnerville. A great opportunity to tour the 83,000 sq. ft. building which includes a wide variety of services and state-of-the-art amenities.

Throw Down for Best Sandwich: The carsonvalleytimes.com "Sandwich Wars" started earlier this week with four Katie's favorites on the nomination round ballot: The Big Bird, The French Dip, The Nevadan and The Monte Cristo. Still plenty of time to add more of your Katie's favorites and start voting! Need a reminder on what Katie's offers? Click here to go to the lunch and dinner menu.

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

• Special Poker Game Expanded: The new daytime no-limit game we covered in last week's blog quickly proved both popular and fun, so the crew in the poker room added another day and you can now jump in on this lower-risk no-limit game at 1 p.m. on both Wednesdays and Fridays! Word from the Poker Room is that the Saturday hourly High Hand Contest is also creating some extra interaction as the end of each hour closes in!
• Ladies Night New Start Time: Ladies' Night now starts at 5:30 p.m.   Tonight's Hot Seat winners will receive a valuable Yankee Candle gift basket and the first 150 ladies to check in tonight will receive a Yankee Candle Votive. To have your business featured on one of our Ladies' Nights (we do pay you for the prizes); call Stephanie at 775-783-7711.
• Jackpot Update:
• The Penny Progressive Jackpot was approaching $53,000 when we checked late yesterday afternoon . . . sure starts climbing at a faster rate when it tops $50k. As a reminder, this jackpot is all at the Carson Valley Inn, so no worries about someone hitting it elsewhere!
• The Pro PK'em Progressive is $4,096 for this weekend's NFL games. That's just about where it was when it hit for the first time last year . . . just sayin'.
• This Week's Game-On Fridays special in CV Steak is Grilled Maple Leaf Farms Duck Breast 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!

Fire Back at Us! Have questions 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!

New Poker Tournament, Find the Mickey Ornaments, Candy Cane Lane, More

Happy Thanksgiving! A last minute reminder that both Katie's and CV Steak have traditional Thanksgiving Dinner Specials plus their regular menu items Thursday. Last we checked, CV Steak was "full" but you might check with them at 775-783-6650 for any last minute openings due to cancellations.  If you are one of the many folks who ordered our Thanksgiving Turkey to go, we appreciate your business! We hope to have information in next week's blog about our Christmas Dinner to Go program which will include your choice of Turkey, Ham or Prime Rib with all the trimmings. We'll do the cooking, you heat and serve at home and enjoy the holiday!

No Limit Hold 'em Poker for those without a Zillion Dollars:  The crew in our Poker Room has done it again – they've come up with yet another fun way for people to enjoy live poker. This one is a daytime no-limit game that gives you the thrill of pushing your entire stack of chips to the center and saying "I'm all in" without having Mr. Moneybags to your left scoff at your meager bankroll. This special no limit game starts at 1 p.m. on Wednesdays and the buy-in is $20-$100. This is a "table stakes" game so no worries about Mr. Moneybags digging in to his wad of hundreds to take you out.  This special game joins the other poker room additions we mentioned in our blog on November 5 (scroll down, it's there).  We don't know if it's the free draft beer, high octane coffee, or the occasional plateful of sweets, but the staff and regulars in the CVI Poker Room sure are a friendly, jovial, and welcoming bunch!

It's All About Christmas!

• Christmas Lights For Kids of All Ages:   Our visual and musical salute to the festive holiday season, Candy Cane Lane, will be powered up for your enjoyment starting Sunday and continuing nightly through December. Thousands of Christmas lights surround  a variety of scenes depicting traditional characters and images getting ready for and enjoying Christmas. To experience Candy Cane Lane, pull into the Carson Valley Inn parking lot at the RV Entrance – between the Carson Valley Market and the Inn's electronic sign . . .the lighted arch marks the way. Tune your car radio to 89.9 FM and enjoy the music as you do a slow drive-by to soak in the sites and get into the Christmas spirit!
• More Christmas Inside the CVI: as the Thanksgiving weekend unfolds, the rest of our Christmas  Decorations  will be sprouting up in our  restaurants, hallways and casino.  And that takes us to something we mentioned in last week's Blog . . .
• $100 Dining Certificate for CV Steak: There are a handful - say a half-a-dozen - of "Hidden Mickey's (Mickey Mouse shaped Christmas ornaments) sprinkled here and there inside the CVI. Look around for them and click here to send us an email letting us know where you noticed these Mickey Mouse ornaments. For each location you find during the contest, you will be entered once into a drawing on December 23 for a $100 dining certificate for CV Steak!  You don't need to slide down any chimneys to find these special decorations . . . All are in plain sight! 
• Holiday Giveaways Ramp Up in December:  the dollar amounts associated with our Friday and Saturday night Holiday Giveaway drawings ramp up in December. For a peek at what's going on, Click Here.
• Our Christmas Kickoff Weekend Hotel Package is a great 3-night deal on December 4 – 6 and it's not too late to make reservations now . . . a most affordable way to enjoy the many Christmas Spirit Inducing Events near the Carson Valley Inn!
  
• Food Drive Almost Here: Please start gathering your food donations for the annual KTVN Channel 2 Share Your Christmas Community Food Drive on Friday, December 12 at the RV Park entrance from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Toys! A Toys for Tots donation box is near our Hotel Desk.

"Sandwich Wars" starts December 1 – another local eatery ”best of”  search contest run by our friends at www.carsonvalleytimes.com.  After CV Steak's Gourmet Hamburger (aka The French Disaster) made it to the finals in the Burger Wars, we had to sit out Pizza Wars . . . but the word from Publisher/Editor Joey Crandall is that a few of our Katie's Sandwiches will be on the starting block in the nomination round for Sandwich Wars. We'll have more on this in next Wednesday's CVI Blog.

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

• Free Entertainment in the Cabaret: Just Us is here tonight through Saturday night, NFL Football has the spotlight Sunday and Monday nights and Greg Austin entertains Tuesday and Wednesday.
• Job Openings: We are looking to fill a few positions at the Carson Valley Inn including (ironically) a Human Resources Manager  . . . Click here for all the openings.
• Ladies Night: Tonight's Hot Seat winners will receive a Thanksgiving themed gift basket from The Chocolate Shoppe and the first 150 ladies to check in tonight will receive a Fall Key Chain. To have your business featured on one of our Ladies' Nights (we do pay you for the prizes); call Stephanie at 775-783-7711.
• Jackpot Update: The Penny Progressive Jackpot was over $48,000 last we looked on Tuesday afternoon and the Pro PK'em Progressive is $9 shy of $4,000 for this weekend's NFL games. Someone came one game short of winning the Pro PK'em Progressive this past weekend . . . brings up some thoughts we'll share in next week's blog.
• This Week's Game-On Fridays special in CV Steak is another on our "always-sells-well" list: Braised Lamb Shank slow cooked with herbs, Cabernet and mustards . . . served with  Pearl Barley Risotto, tableside-tossed salad, vegetable and your choice of potato - au gratin, baked, or a one-pound, twice-baked potato . . . all for $26.00! 
  
• Reno Airport Shuttle: The Carson Valley Airporter provides scheduled shuttle service between the Carson Valley and Reno – airport and downtown. Very handy whether you are arriving at Reno International or travelling from the Valley to Reno.

Anything on Your Mind about the CVI? Have questions 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!