Black Oak Casino News Source: http://www.uniondemocrat.com
By ALISHA WYMAN
For Dorothy Varela, 72, it was her ultimate career choice.
For Aaron Batt, 22, it is a stepping stone to other things.
It allowed Crystal Masters, 30, to return to the foothills.
Whatever their reasons, five members of the same family were drawn to become employees of Black Oak Casino, Tuolumne County's second-largest private employer.
"It's kind of unusual," said Carla Sanders, 47, Varela's daughter and a casino beverage server. "You wouldn't see that in L.A."
There aren't many employment options in Tuolumne County that pay as well, or have such good benefits, said Masters, a Black Oak card dealer.
She grew up in Tuolumne County but moved to Oakdale while her husband had a construction job in the Bay Area.
She was a stay-at-home mom while there. When she decided to go back to work, she got the casino job and moved with her family back to the Mother Lode.
Varela, Masters' grandmother, was once a card dealer at Lake Tahoe. She enjoyed the work but wanted to be closer to family in Tuolumne County.
She held various other local jobs — such as posts at Dodge Ridge and the Amador-Tuolumne Community Action Agency's Head Start-State Preschool. But when the casino opened five years ago, she immediately applied for a dealer position.
"That's really what I like to do best, and here it is in my lap," she said.
A year and a half ago, her grandson, Batt, joined her and now works as table games supervisor. He formerly worked for Enterprise Rent-A-Car.
"It was definitely a step up for me," he said. "There's no better place I can be working here than out at the casino."
He sees his job there as experience that might serve him in the future as he goes to school or moves to another area.
Batt's cousin, Tom Hagey, 25, is also learning skills as a casino landscape supervisor. It's a job, however, he wants to keep a long time.
"I hope to work here forever," he said, adding that the job is an improvement over his former construction job.
Members of the family all said they enjoy working with their relatives.
"Our family is really close," Batt said. "To have us all work out in the same place — it's just that much better having familiar faces where you work."
Contact Alisha Wyman at awyman@uniondemocrat.com or 588-4529.
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