City Manager Marano a winner, Carson City mayor just a joker at Rotary

A cynic could be forgiven for wondering if the fix was in at Tuesday’s Rotary Club luncheon meeting.

City Manager Nick Marano, the luncheon speaker, won $5 when his ticket number was called outa after a drawing early in the gathering at the Carson Nugget casino.

“This is the second time I’ve been to a Rotary meeting and the second time I’ve won,” he said, a note of incredulity in his voice.

At the end of the meeting, Mayor Robert Crowell’s number was called out and his prize was a chance to draw a joker from a deck of cards for a big payoff. Had he managed that, Crowell would have won an amount that escalates over time until the joker gets drawn from the deck depleted weekly. He turned to his fellow Rotarians after drawing a card and joshed he had won, He paused, then said he had selected an ace.

So the mayor turned out to be the joker, while the ace made Marano the day’s winner from city government.