A Wondrous Event/Project SOAR @ McGaw YMCA

Here is something to contemplate: If you could redo any event in your life, what would it be? For my very first gig of 2008, I got to relive and experience a very important moment in my life: my senior high-school prom. And there I was without a date! Talk about a crime, huh? It's all in good faith, actually. Erik Friedly and I were the deejays and audio specialists for a fundraiser for Project SOAR, an organization dedicated to supporting literacy and literacy programs for preschool children, teens, and parents. The evening was literally a prom night for the 200+ people that were there. The spacious gymnasium of the McGaw YMCA in downtown Evanston was transformed into an amazing dining hall and dance area—complete with a balloon arch and numerous strings of lights. It was awesome seeing people dressed in prom wear from their respective eras: bold varsity jackets, powder-pink tuxes, and fluffy, ruffled dresses. There were even a few tuxedo T-shirts in the mix, worthy of a laugh or two. Ha. Ha. Fig was hired through A Wondrous Affair to handle the deejaying, audio and the emceeing for the event. Erik and I worked with Lisa McGowan, who gave us cues for music and for announcements. I was the emcee for the evening, while Erik handled all the music.

The toughest part in the event was not braving the costumes that some of the people wore, but more so, it was getting everyone to sit down at the beginning of the evening—it took about four or five announcements from me to get everyone to get to their seats, but I received some help from some of the dressed-up guests who got on the mike and calmed the group down. My learn in that process was to be more persuasive on the microphone, but my huge win is that I had a ton of fun with the crowd through that time and through the night. Two of the big events of the "prom" was welcoming the "celebrities" (police chiefs, firemen, state officials, politicians and the like), who were gaining votes to be the "Prom King and Queen," as well as a big live auction. I had the pleasure of working with a woman by the name of Julie during the live auction, and while she held rapport with the crowd and drew bids, I announced all the prizes and played second banana to Julie. I kinda felt like a game show announcer at that time. Why I said "This raffle prize can be yours if 'the price is right'" is beyond me. Along with the raffle, I did a great job working well with Lisa with all the numerous announcements that came up, as well as being playful and working with the presenters and celebrities. Erik did an amazing job with the music all night—during dancing, he maintained a packed dance floor for virtually the entire evening. Even yours truly cut a bit of a rug with the guests. The servers and volunteers were dancing too! We received numerous thank-yous, and even a few compliments on this being "the best party ever." Seriously, it must be true that one can have fun at their prom—no matter when you are celebrating it!

– Brent Rolland, resident fig deejay