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!

Win a 3-Night Golf Trip to CVI, Boxing this Saturday, More

Win 3 Nights at the CVI and 3 Rounds of Golf - No Joke!!  If you are a golfer,  you definitely want to read this one. Your best golf joke can win you exactly what the headline states and more. One of the rounds of golf is part of the Divine 9 Golf Media Tour on Tuesday, September 30. On the surface, it's a round of golf. However, it is one of the most unique rounds of golf you will ever play: two holes at each of nine area courses - all in one day! You start with breakfast at o dark thirty, the bus leaves at dawn and you'll be joining a dozen media types who will be writing about, tweeting, blogging, or recording the day's events to help promote the courses and lodging in our area. This day is not for the feeble. It's long, the crowd gets loud towards the end of the day, and there's no time for practice swings or whining. There are plenty of liquid refreshments on the bus, lunch and snacks are included, and everyone gathers for dinner at the JT Restaurant and Bar after the last two holes at the end of the day - and it's all included. Sound like something you'd enjoy? Here's how you enter: Go to this link for the details and then just send your best golf joke by noon on Wednesday, September 17. We guarantee the winner will have a golf and social experience you won't soon forget.

The Collegiate and Amateur Boxing card in TJ's Corral this Saturday starts at 4 p.m. and tickets are just $10 . . . get 'em online or at the hotel desk. Catch boxers from Nevada, Airforce Academy, Cal and Washington as they tune up for the 2015 season.  You'll see 2014 National Champions and National finalists in action and have a chance to meet the Nevada Boxing coaches and some of the Nevada Boxing alumni.

Was that the Real Billy Joel? If you thought you heard Billy Joel singing in TJ's Corral last Saturday . . . it wasn't the real Billy Joel!  We had a summer BBQ for our INN Club members with a Billy Joel Tribute Act as the evening's entertainment. Why point this out? It's just another reminder to use your INN Club card whenever you play at the CVI. All the invites to this event went to folks who had earned a certain level of points in the past few months and, the best part: No points were charged to attend the event! We have more of these events coming up . . . so please always use your card!

100 Days 'Til Ski Season: Actually, as of today, there are 72 days 'til ski season . . . because we are just now getting around to including this link to the "100" list that our friends at Heavenly Lake Tahoe send us on August 13. So, you can go through the first 28 days on fast-forward and pick up from today, scan thru all 100, or pick 'n' choose as you wish. No matter how you shake it, Ski Season is on the horizon and the Carson Valley Inn will be posting our 2014/15 Ski Packages soon! And for the record: we're going to take a swipe at the day-71 tip as soon as it warms up today!

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

• We mentioned a lot of the details of our NFL Football Promotions  last week but forgot to remind you that that our Bar Bites Snacks are available during all games (because they are served 24/7) and we invite you to check out the offerings at This Link. Nothing like having food delivered to your seat while you watch sports at the CVI!
• Speaking of Football - After Further Review: Nevada Football's first 2-0 start since 2010 has everyone pumped up at the University of Nevada and "things" are happening fast . . . including a change in date for Coach Brian Polian's Wolf Pack Blitz lunch at the Carson Valley Inn. Originally scheduled for September 22, the trip to Minden by the Coach and Athletic Department staff will now be on Monday, November 3. All other details are the same: The cost is $17 per person and advance reservations are a must through the University of Nevada Athletic Department at 775-682-6901.
  
• This Week's Game-On Fridays special in CV Steak is Seared and Braised Antelope with Cranberry Port Glaze and Smoked Potato Croquettes, served with  tableside-tossed salad, vegetable and your choice of potato - au gratin, baked, or a one-pound, twice-baked potato . . . all for just $26.00!
• Congratulations to last night's winners in our September Blackjack Tournament as the top 3 finishers shared the prize pool of $1250. Mickey Bennett finished first for $625. Second place and $375 was won by Joshua Gutierrez. The $250 for third place went to Ron Perreira. It's just a $25 buy-in and the next monthly tournament is Tuesday, October 14.
• Free Entertainment in the Cabaret: Dale Poune appears tonight, The Vegas Road Show entertains Thursday – Saturday, NFL Football fills the Cabaret Sunday and Monday nights and Steve Lord takes the stage Tuesday and Wednesday.
• Ladies' Night –Tonight! Each of tonight's Hot Seat winners will receive a Cosmetic Travel
  
  Bag filled with goodies assembled by Julie and Stephanie. And the first 150 ladies to check in tonight will receive a deco-magnet (some pictured). Remember, if you are a local merchant interested in getting involved in our Ladies' Night promotion, please contact Stephanie at 775-783-7711. We are looking for six hot seat prizes and 150 of something smaller every week!
• A reminder about two big events in our Valley Ballroom this Weekend:
• The Sierra Nevada Republican Women “September 11” Dinner is Friday evening. Tickets for this official NV Sesquicentennial event are available thru Nancy, 775-267-6937.
• The Friends of the NRA dinner is Saturday and last minute tickets are available through Blayne at 775-450-2349. 

What's On Your Mind? 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!

Bring Men to a Bridal Fair?? Also, a Special Ski Weekend Package, More on Our Concerts

In this week's blog: More on our upcoming concerts, a special ski weekend package, our Clay Shooting Outing and Eagles & Ag this weekend, our Bridal Fair Sunday and more! PLUS – feel free to post your comments to this week's blog - but let us know who your are.

Ski Weekend: We have a specially priced Ski Package for the weekend of February 28 - March 2 with accommodations for Friday and Saturday nights, two days of skiing (Heavenly Tahoe and Kirkwood, a $50 per person food credit for use in CV Steak or Katie's and a CVI Logo Sweatshirt for après ski lounging. Get the details here or call our Reservations folks at 775-783-6629. Can't make it that weekend? Check out all of our "anytime" ski packages at this link.

Eagles and Ag: Congratulations to the Carson Valley Chamber of Commerce for selling out most of the activities for this weekend's annual Eagles and Agriculture! Eagles & Ag is the Carson Valley's annual celebration of the interaction between our habitat that our cattle ranches provide and the eagles that come here during the calving season…it's 4 days of tours, workshops and events for any wildlife lover, admirer of the ranching life or history buff. If you missed it this year, put it on your radar to sign up in January 2015! Call the Chamber at 775-782-8144. Oh, thanks John Humphrey for the picture taken earlier this week.

Clay Shooting Weekend: Our Annual Clay Shoot is this weekend with a Thursday reception, sporting clays on Friday at Walker River Resort and Saturday at Carson Valley Clays, and a Saturday banquet.  As with over 100 golf groups each year, we are also headquarters for a number of different clay shooting events – let us know if you are interested in a trip our way for your group. Check this link for more information or call Bill at 775-783-6624.

Bridal Fair This Sunday - Bring the Men?: The Carson Valley Inn Bridal Fair is this Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m. in the Valley Ballroom and admission is free! Produced in conjunction with "The Entertainer," the event features a variety of wedding vendors, free wedding related seminars, free refreshments and prize drawings and tours of our rooms and suites. The guys? Bring them! We have a special "VIP Room" for the grooms and fathers to hang out and enjoy a cocktail while watching an NBA game and perhaps planning a bachelor party. Plus, they are nearby if you need them to help make a decision . . . or enthusiastically support a decision you've already made!  Here's a link to all the details or  call Carrie at 775-783-6673.

This Friday's Game Dinner Special: Our Game-On Fridays special in CV Steak this Friday is Braised Buffalo Short Ribs – one pound of American Bison short ribs braised and slow cooked, finished with natural pan sauce. 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 – all for $28.00.

Concert Update: As a follow-up to last week's announcement on some of our upcoming 2014 concerts in the Valley Sky Theatre, we now have links to the full schedule and an information page for each event. More information will be added to each page as it is available: Michael Martin Murphy (May 1), Oak Ridge Boys (May 15), Eddie Money (June 21) and The Charlie Daniels Band (August 29). 

What's in the Bag? The hot seat winners at tonight's Ladies' Night festivities from 6 to 9 p.m. will receive a scarf, beanie and glove set – that's what's in the bag (see it now?). Deanna and Julie will be handing out a candle holder with votive to the first 150 ladies who show up - and 20 of these will also have Free play as a bonus!  Ladies Night Bingo games are at 6:45, 7:30 & 8:15 p.m. with the first 2 games "paying" $50 in Freeplay and the last game paying $100 Cash. 

Keeping You Posted:

·        New Bar in the Convention Center:  We did get started this week and will have updates in the next few weeks.

·        Dollar Video Poker Progressive: It's now up and running on the front slots at CV Steak Bar. Jackpot was approaching $5,000 yesterday.

·        5 Million Point Giveaway: It's coming up in March all the details are in our March player mailer - plus we'll have more in next week's Wednesday blog.

·        Super Sunday Parlay Card $2,500 Winner: we are still waiting for the second $2,500 winner to claim his or her prize.

Lots More Coming Up: We have a lot more coming up at the Carson Valley Inn so check our Blog posting every Wednesday!

Have questions or comments about the Carson Valley Inn? Send us an email using info at carsonvalleyinn dot com.  Please also feel free to call us at 775-782-9711. Hit "0" when the automated voice comes on and you'll go right to the hotel operator. He or she will get you to the correct person or department!

Is Elvis Still Alive? We Know Someone Who Knows!

We are in the heart of  Elvis Week here at the Carson Valley Inn, so today's posting has some interesting Elvis related tidbits, info on how you can win two free tickets to the Flamingo's Concert on January 17 or a free ski weekend on January 24 and 25 and some insight into the Pro Pick'em leftover jackpot . . .

Is Elvis Still Alive? This is actually the most common question asked of Dave Hebler, a former Elvis bodyguard who will be part of the Elvis Week festivities in the Cabaret Lounge this Wednesday through Saturday. Dave's primary responsibility was the personal safety of Elvis at home as well as at recording sessions, personal appearances, concert tours and various recreational activities. Dave also taught Elvis martial arts and, with two other Elvis bodyguards, was one of the three collaborators on the book Elvis What Happened?  Over the years, Dave has fielded literally thousands of Elvis questions with the most common being - Is Elvis Still Alive? No questions are off limits for Dave who has first-hand Elvis insights known by only a very few!  He also shares some interesting and often funny stories about Elvis that you may not have heard before. Dave had some truly great times and outrageous experiences with the man who was not only the greatest entertainer who ever lived but, per Dave, one of the best persons as well.

Backed by the CVI band, Brian Andrews performs as Elvis Wednesday through Saturday in the Cabaret Lounge twice each night with Dave's Q &A sessions in-between.  A jam session featuring fifties and sixties music and plenty of Elvis tunes wraps up each night. Be sure to check out all the Elvis Week activities on our web site.

Here's the straight scoop on the Progressive Pro Pick'em contest: We had one winner during the regular season, the pot is back up to $4,360 and we have to (MUST is a better way to say it) give away the progressive jackpot by Super Bowl weekend at the latest. The special $5 parlay card has 15 picks for the four NFL games this Saturday and Sunday. We are really trying to make it easy – picks include Winners, First Half Winners (first half ties win both ways), First Score type (touchdown or field goal) and Over/Unders (we made 'em even numbers so if the score lands on that number, both bets win). Play as many cards as you want for just $5 each . . . pick 'em all and win the jackpot (ties split)! If the Progressive doesn't hit this weekend, the pot increases based on the number of bets this week and we'll put it out again next week for the Conference Championships. Entries are accepted until 8 a.m. Sunday during any hours the Sports and Race Book is open at the Carson Valley Inn or Bodines Casino. Complete contest details are available at the Inn's Sports and Race Book.

About winning the two free Flamingo's Concert Tickets or a Free Ski Weekend: Keep an eye on our Facebook page this week as we'll be posting a couple of free-to-enter contests. One is for a Free Ski Weekend on January 24 & 25 and the other is for a pair of tickets to the Flamingos Concert on Friday, January 17. It's a pretty simple "like, share or comment to enter" process, so don't miss out. 

Have questions or comments about the Carson Valley Inn? Send us an email using info at carsonvalleyinn dot com.  Please also feel free to call us at 775-782-9711. Hit "0" when the automated voice comes on and you'll go right to the hotel operator. He or she will get you to the correct person or department!

News and Views from the Carson Valley Inn

Happy New Year! The Carson Valley Inn Blog is up and running! We'll be making regular postings to relate what's going on at the Carson Valley Inn and, when possible, we'll share some behind-the-scenes information about the CVI. Today, a few musings about Elvis, flights to warm climates, income taxes, outdoor entertainment (no, not now – in the summer!), our Pro Pick'em jackpot and skiing . . .

In this blog posting, you'll see certain words become underlined when you hover over them – these can be clicked upon to take you directly to the appropriate page on our web site.

Our January Promotions, January Katie's Dinner Specials and information on our 2014 Elvis Week are all on our web site.  The Cash and Getaways promotion will have plenty of winners and you might as well be one (or more) of 'em! A Southwest Airlines flight to somewhere warm would certainly be welcomed by most folks this time of year . . . and there's also a cruise and freeplay and cash!  We have a new twist to Elvis Week this year with one of Elvis' former bodyguards and his martial arts instructor (same guy!) on hand to answer questions about "The King."  Dave Hebler is his name and we'll give you a little more about him in next week's blog posting.

A common question we get this time of year has to do with a obtaining a gaming win/loss statement from the CVI for tax preparation purposes (yep – it's just about that time again!).  We have a pretty simple procedure and details are on the form you can obtain by clicking here. This brings up a good point: We suggest you always use your INN Club card when playing in the casino at the Carson Valley Inn. Using your card is the only way we can capture what you'll need for that all-important win/loss report.

Our Entertainment Manager, Stew Stewart, has been working on concerts for our new outdoor Valley Sky Theatre and we will be announcing some of these concerts soon. The information will be on the Valley Sky Theatre web page so check back often. Speaking of entertainment, The McBride Brothers are performing in our Cabaret Lounge nightly through Saturday and they won't start Saturday until after the evening NFL Playoff game. As a reminder, all CVI Cabaret Lounge entertainment is presented with no cover charge and no drink minimum . . . it's just plain FREE!

If you happen to be a skier, why not take advantage of one of our attractive hotel ski packages!  Already have one of those incredible Epic Passes that get you on to the local Vail Resorts trio of Heavenly, Kirkwood and Northstar? We can still help you out with special room rates for Epic Pass Holders.

Our Progressive Pro Pick'em wound up the regular NFL season with a Jackpot of $4,266 not-yet-won. It's someone's to win, so our Race and Sports Book Manager Walt Matson is carrying it over into the NFL Playoffs!  Walt and his crew came up with a $5 parlay card with 15 picks for the first round of the NFL Playoffs this weekend: There are Winners, First Half Winners (remember, ties count on both sides), Point Totals, First Score type, etc. Play as many cards as you want . . . pick 'em all and win the jackpot! Oh, if more than one person wins, the pot is split! If the Progressive doesn't hit this weekend, the pot increases based on the number of bets this week and we'll put it out again next week. Entries are accepted until 8 a.m. Sunday during any hours the Sports and Race Book is open. 

Have a question or comment about the Carson Valley Inn? Send us an email using info at carsonvalleyinn dot com.  Please also feel free to call us at 775-782-9711. Hit "0" when the automatic voice comes on and you'll go right to the hotel operator. He or she will get you to the correct person or department!

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