Mesquite Chamber Revels In Spring Festivities

By BOBBIE GREEN

The Progress

It was a beautiful spring day for the Mesquite Chamber of Commerce Luncheon held at the picturesque poolside of the Casablanca Resort on Wednesday, April 13.

Chamber members and their guests enjoyed a scrumptious lunch of chicken, beef kabobs, coconut shrimp, an array of salads and mouthwatering deserts – all while enjoying the perfect poolside weather.

Attendees were also treated to a mini fashion show put on by a new Chamber business member: local boutique retailer Juniper Outpost. The fashions were for the young, and the young at heart, male and female, modeled by store staff and family of Juniper Outpost owner Charlotte Sirignni.

There was a brief talk from Lindsey Poston, new Community Health Manager (P.A.C.T) at the Salvation Army offices. She will help connect people to needed resources.

The main speaker of the day was Anthony Curtis, Professional Gambler and publisher. Curtis told the audience his story of how he came to be a professional gambler. It had been his intended career since he was a teenager.

Curtis told of funny and odd occurrences that happened along the way in his career. He told of all the odd jobs he did in Las Vegas to pay the rent, until he really learned the skill and knack of the table games.

He also gave the audience some gambling advice. Curtis dispelled some popular beliefs about gambling.
One example is the inaccurate feeling, held by many, that if you play a slot machine for a long time, walk away and another person sits down and wins a jackpot on the machine, that it should be your jackpot that they won. Curtis explained how the mechanism in the machines work. He said th at the odds of you hitting the button at the exact same moment the new player did was like winning the Powerball lottery.

By their reaction, it made players in the audience feel better.
Curtis said that he has publishing company that does well. “I publish gambling books and family reading material,” he said.

The company also publishes the Las Vegas Advisor magazine, he said.
“My father was happy to see me become a publisher,” Curtis said. “It is a career other than gambling.”
Curtis said that he has been a consultant for many films having to do with gaming and Las Vegas. He gave insights into some of the movies.

Because of Easter, there were special prize drawings to conclude the luncheon. Everyone received a plastic egg which were all opened at the same time. Most were filled with candy. But one egg, which happened to be received by Mesquite Mayor Al Litman, had a piece of paper saying “Golden Egg.” Other eggs contained a paper with numbers on them.

The Golden Egg recipient then drew numbers for prizes that went to the people that had received eggs with numbers. All this was in addition to the regular door prize drawings and the 50/50 drawing.

It was a fun time for all at this special luncheon. President/CEO Carol Kolson did her job well as always, greeted arriving members and promoted local businesses.