WDVR's DJ for an Hour

My husband, God bless his soul, pushes me from time to time to do things I would not normally do on my own. Several months ago he told me about a fundraising event at a local radio station that for a specific donation you could be a “DJ for an Hour”.

“I don’t think so, I don’t have a DJ voice,” I said.

“I think you’d have fun, and it’s for a good cause and you can create your own playlist,” he replied.

“I’ll think about it,” I said.

Every now and then he’d give me a gentle nudge followed by, “I’ll think about it.”

The idea rattled around in my head for more than several weeks when I remembered a Dale Carnegie speech course I took several years ago where every week we had to present a different type of speech. I took the course for two reasons. I wanted to learn how to give a speech but more importantly, I wanted to learn how to step outside my comfort zone more often.

“DJ for an Hour” was the perfect “step outside my comfort zone” venue!!

Situated in the quaint hamlet of Sergeantsville, New Jersey is an unusual radio station. Located in a former blacksmith shop, this independently owned and operated radio station is staffed entirely by a talented, dedicated, and fun-loving group of volunteers from young to old. On the air for 20 years, WDVR plays a wide range of music such as Classic Country, Bluegrass, 50’s Doo Wop, Light Rock, Light Jazz, Big Band, Celtic and Polka. Its radio signal reaches, including via the Internet, over four million people some as far away as Australia.

Carla is one of WDVR’s dedicated volunteers and a very good friend who graciously donated an hour of her radio time to me. I sat across from her in the cozy sound proof room with a large foam covered mike in front of me. Following my introduction as a guest DJ, we chit chatted about the weather and how spring was in three days. I did not have to worry about working the sound boards, or switching out the music from one song to the next. Carla effortlessly moved from song to song on my playlist, interjecting here and there, watching the time for the news, weather and community announcements and cueing me when it was time for me to speak. I got the fun part and she did all the work!

I never realized how much work goes into being a DJ! If you’re like me and don’t know much about music other than what you enjoy listening to, there’s a lot of work that goes into an hour’s worth of airtime. Depending on the length of the songs and any notes or comments you might have regarding the songs, as well as time for the news, weather and community announcements you can play about eight or nine songs in an hour. It’s amazing how fast an hour goes when you’re a DJ!

Stepping outside our “comfort zone” helps us grow on a personal level while expanding our horizons and as Thomas Edison once said, “If we all did the things we are capable of doing we would literally astound ourselves.”

I didn’t astound myself but I certainly had a lot of fun!

Namaste

Chris