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FOUR SEASONS SPOTLIGHT 6 FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | FEBRUARY 2016 If you've attended any Four Seasons performances in the Ballroom or at the Amphitheater in the last year, you may have noticed the major improvement in the technical aspects of the shows. Some of that is due to a lot of new equipment, and some to having a real professional in charge of our sound system. When Stan Sweeney was in high school in West Covina, he happily played guitar in a band and knew that he wanted music to be part of his life. Well, he didn't become a professional musician, though he does still play his guitars, and even got his old band together for a while in 1995. But sound has played a very satisfying role in his career in the entertainment industry, although it took quite a few years and a lot of interesting experiences to ultimately earn three Emmys for his contributions in sound engineering. After he graduated from Edgewood High School in 1969, he continued his interest in music engineering when, in the early 70s, he took a class at Capitol Records. In 1974 he married his wife, Donna, and in order to support his family, delivered Arrowhead Water, though he still was most interested in sound engineering. One of his customers, who happened to be in the music business, introduced him to a sound company, Burns Audio. He worked for Burns for four years, delivering and setting up public address systems, often to major networks. As he set up these systems, he met sound engineers, who encouraged him to keep moving up the "sound ladder." Around 1979, he was hired by NBC to do the same sort of system setup that he did at Burns. At NBC he worked primarily on The Tonight Show, though he also did sports and game shows. His work as a boom operator, moving the microphone on its boom anywhere it was needed for good sound quality, allowed him to travel the world. After a few years with NBC, he left to be a freelance boom operator. He worked on some feature films, traveled to Italy, did the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games for ABC, and then to Nagano for the Winter Olympics in 1998. He even worked at Ronald Reagan's inauguration! Stan worked on more than 30 shows and productions, way too many to list here. After freelancing for a few years, Stan was hired as an official staff member at CBS, where he worked on The Bold and the Beautiful for 25 years, a job that he loved. However, after years of sometimes an hours-long commute to and from work, he decided that it was time to retire and really enjoy his proudest accomplishment, his family. Stan and Donna visited some friends at Four Seasons Beaumont and decided that this was a great place to land. They have three children and four grandchildren, all of whom live nearby. Stan loves to camp with his son in the High Sierra and his 12-year-old granddaughter joined them on their last trip. Stan and Donna love attending the grandkids' school and sporting events and having the time to enjoy being grandparents. During his working years, Stan saw himself as more of a "support guy." Now he is our very own sound mixer and is enjoying this role very much. He enjoys working with his crew and with other Performing Arts Club (PAC) members. He is looking forward to working on a number of PAC events planned for 2016 and we are very happy, indeed, that Stan Sweeney is part of the team. Stan Sweeney Lends Community Emmy Winning Talents By Patty Jordan Above: The Sweeney family, Christmas 2015 Left: Stan's three Emmy Awards Above: Backstage at Emmy Awards in 2001. Sound crew for The Bold and the Beautiful (Stan is on the far left)

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