Stan Pappas
Sonoma, Arizona, has one less celebrity to entertain the masses; Stan Pappas, former DSVY radio personality and part owner, signed off the air waves and said goodbye to one desert to move to another.
Mesquite’s got Pappas’ many talents now. His favorite talent is keeping Frank Sinatra’s music alive.
You can hear Pappas for yourself this weekend, he’s paying tribute to “Old Blue Eyes” on Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. at the Mesquite Community Theatre, 150 N. Yucca St. Tickets are available the evening of the show.
The 75-year-old Pappas married a former junior high school classmate, Betty, in 2016 and the two followed friends and fellow Sonomans, Jerry and Arlene Clemons to Sun City where he and his fairly new bride have lived happily since January.
In an interview with the Sonoma Index Tribune, Pappas was described as the type of guy, “People either take to or find hard to take.”
Pappas said he’s fine with that. “My friends are 50-50; 50 percent like me and the other 50 percent could live without me. I don’t take a lot of crap and I’m not exactly politically correct. I can’t change who I am at this age and I don’t want to.”
Pappas has been a fan of Sinatra since he was 11. He can remember his friends teasing him because while they were rocking out to the Elvis, Pappas was crooning with a member of the Rat Pack.
Pappas has a long list of venues he’s entertained in during the past 18 years including night clubs, community theaters and for benefits but his favorite venues by far are the assisted living facilities.
He said, “I’ve done a lot of work with memory care units and it makes my day to see the smiles on their face when I sing songs to people who may not remember what they had for lunch but they remember the words to these songs.”
Singing isn’t Pappas’ only talent, he’s always had an eye for fashion and for 30 years he designed and sold women’s shoes. His last lines of work were being a host of his own radio shows and part owner in a smoke shop; he is now retired from both.
While Pappas may love retirement, performing in the assisted living homes, not paying state taxes and performing in a couple of smaller venues in town, he’s ready to hit the bigger stage and put Sinatra in the spot light once again; he says he’s looking very forward to entertaining the people here in Mesquite.
