Hollywood Casino Bay St. Louis employees recognized

4 December 2009

BAY ST. LOUIS, Mississippi -- (PRESS RELEASE) -- Hollywood Casino Bay St. Louis cast members and supervisors of the fourth quarter for 2009 were recognized for their outstanding service Monday. Each quarter Hollywood Casino recognizes the service of seven exemplary employees awarding the shining stars with trophies, gift certificates and cash awards.

Cast members of the quarter include Deneene Avery, motorcoach; Danny Crabtree, security; Joseph Lucas, Buffet; Diane Miller, table games; and Kathy Thomas, player services. Brenda Barlow, marketing and player services' Edith Benson have been named supervisors of the quarter.

General Manager John Chaszar introduced each department supervisor who awarded the employees they nominated to receive the award. "I had a guest come up to me today while I was looking at our beautiful new stage bar with some floor plans in my hand. The guest said 'I love what your doing with your new renovations, but what ever you do, don't change your people,' and he's right," said Chaszar. "Our cast members have irreplaceable personalities that you can't find just anywhere," said Chaszar.

General Sales Manager Kim Gardache-Ragas presented Avery with her award. "Deneene's been with the casino since 1993 where she started in the gift shop, then moved on to the VIP department and now she's in motorcoach. Although it's been a couple of years now, we still have guests who come to our office to say hello or give her a hug," said Gardache-Ragas. "Some of our bus coordinators have nicked named her 'Smiley," she said.

Security officer Danny Crabtree has also been with the casino since 1993, and received his award from Security Supervisor Becky Fontenot. "Danny has a passion for saving lives," said Fontenot. "He's one of our key first responders and he's proven time and time again that he knows what he's doing and does it well, this is really his passion," said Fontenot.

"Joseph Lucas came here with a lot of experience in 2008, and he would have probably been better suited in Tuscany, but that's where we needed him," said Executive Chef Josh Necaise as he expressed appreciation to Lucas for his selfless efforts and unsurpassed work ethic.

Sandy Gonsalez, a Table Games Supervisor, handed out an award to Diane Miller, a member of her department. "Diane is an ideal cast member, she's always dependable and constantly expanding her gaming knowledge," said Gonsalez. "She was handpicked with five other of our dealers to go to our sister property, Bullwacker's, in Colorado, to help them set up their table games last summer, she's that good," said Gonsalez.

Casino Cashier Manager Keeli Dinapolis proudly presented two awards in her department. The first award went to Kathy Thomas, a cashier who works on swing shift known for sometimes working two stations at the same time at the player services desk. Edith Benson who started on the same shift in 2000, and now works days as a supervisor in Player Services received the next award.

Assistant Marketing Director, Holly Lemoine-Raymond, proudly presented Brenda Barlow with her trophy reading off an impressive list of Barlow's career highlights as a marketing and sales executive in the telecom industry before coming to the casino. She has been promoted three times since starting as a player event representative, then a coordinator and now manager. "We've learned a great deal from one another and she makes everything seamless," said Lemoine-Raymond.

Casino managers and directors nominate their respective employees for consideration with the winners being decided by an internal committee. The 4th Quarter awards luncheon was held in the Cypress Ballroom where more than sixty managers and supervisors attended the awards ceremony.

Hollywood Casino Bay St. Louis and Hollywood Hotel offer 291 guest rooms, 1,267 new slot machines, 21 unique table games, a 6-table poker room, and a 14-station video poker bar. There are four fantastic restaurants including Tuscany Steaks and Seafood, Jackpot Java, the Bridges Grill, and the Epic Buffet. Hollywood also features the state's only Arnold Palmer Golf Course ranked among the Top 40 casino resort courses in the country by Golf Digest magazine.

The land-based casino has Shaker's Martini Bar, a Stage Bar for live entertainment on weekends and five over-sized sports screens including Sunday and Monday Football game specials. Legendary jazz musician Pete Fountain also performs on the first Tuesday and Wednesdays of the first full week each month on the new Stage Bar. Hollywood also holds monthly concerts in the Cypress Ballroom. Hollywood is the only casino resort on the Coast with all amenities on site along with 14,000 square feet of flexible function space and private meeting rooms.

For reservations at the Hollywood Hotel or Hollywood RV Park, or to set a tee time at The Bridges, call 1-866-7-LUCKY-1 (1-866-758-2591) or make reservations online at www.hollywoodcasinobsl.com