Musical Dreams
Story by Service
Coordinator, Katie Boggs
TJ and Sylvan enjoy playing music
for the occasional family function,
and small gatherings of their
friends, but they have never done
anything big. Until now...
Sylvan likes spending time with his
pets and family and is currently
looking for a job. He spends his
free time DJ’ing. TJ works part
time at Timberlodge, and like
Sylvan, says DJ’ing is his passion.
I stopped by TJ’s apartment a couple
weeks ago, to visit with him and
Sylvan about their recent
experience. As I sat down with the
guys, I could not help but notice
that the rope light on the ceiling
was pulsing to the beat of “Say Hey
(I Love You)”, which was booming
from the speaker next to the DJ
booth that TJ and Sylvan built
together. TJ adjusted the volume,
and pointed out that the music video
for the song was playing on his
television, while he and Sylvan
continued talking about video
monitors and mixing boards.
On October 30th,
2009, a dream
came true for
Sylvan and TJ.
They had the
opportunity to
DJ a Halloween
dance party for
more than 200
guests at the
Center for
Active
Generations.
People First of
Southeastern
South Dakota
hosted the
event, and
happily
presented the
debut of TJ and
Sylvan’s DJ
business,
Digital
Entertainment.
Both guys were
thrilled with
the turnout, and
they had a
fantastic time
playing music
for the crowd.
“We enjoyed people
coming up and making
requests and just
seeing people having
fun,” Sylvan says of
the event.
“There were a lot of
people who didn’t
want to leave!”
says TJ.
Sylvan and TJ had
shirts made for the
occasion. They also
did a lot of prep
work, including
visiting the
facility to plan
their set-up, and
deciding which
equipment—mixing
board, speakers,
mirror ball, video
monitor, strobe
lights, and
more—they needed to
bring. TJ and
Sylvan would like to
say a special thanks
to Chris for helping
them plan the event,
and to Sylvan’s
father for hauling
their equipment.
TJ and Sylvan are
already busy
discussing plans for
equipment upgrades
to use for the next
event. TJ
explains their
ultimate goal as
they plan for the
future, “We’re
getting high tech
now. We don’t
go small – we want
people to be
entertained!”
