Who Is Charles E. Snyder III?

Charles was born in the small Pennsylvania town of Columbia on March 30, 1968 to Charles E. Snyder Jr. and Carol A. Snyder. Columbia sits nestled along the banks of the Susquehanna River in Lancaster County and deep in the heart of Pennsylvania Amish Country.

His first year was spent with his mother living with his Grandmother, Geraldine V. Coxwhile his father was away serving in the United States Navy on-board USS Ranger CV-61 during the Vietnam Conflict. Upon his father’s return home in 1969, the family then moved into a small house in downtown Columbia

During these first few years, Charles’ hobbies included walking, talking, riding the family dog like a horse, exploring the many uses of wire-cutters around the home and “helping” with his younger sister. It was a time of exploration and learning for everyone; Charles learned how to take things apart (reassembling would not be picked up until a few years later), his father learned not to give him real tools to play with phone lines and electrical cords, his sister became accustomed to being held upside down and the dog… well he just dealt with it. At the tender age of just three years old, Charles stated that he wanted to be a firefighter when he grew up.

In 1974 the Snyder family moved “uptown” into a larger home with a smaller yard, but still in the quaint little river town of Columbia, where the family stayed all through Charles’ years in school. While growing up, he developed more hobbies which included sports, a keen interest in science/space/NASA and building things with his considerable collection of Legos. It was also during this period of his life that he developed a love for the outdoors, especially looking forward to the family’s occasional trips up to the Appalachian Mountains where much of his time was spent in the frigid mountain stream that passed behind the cabin.

As the years progressed, Charles would become involved in the Cub Scouts and later the Boy Scouts, which ultimately would lead to him joining a volunteer fire department at the age of fourteen. Shortly after becoming a Junior Firefighter with the Vigilant Steam Fire Engine & Hose Company No. 2, almost all other activities ground to a halt as he dove head-first into fulfilling his childhood dream of becoming a firefighter. The few interests outside of firefighting that remained intact were his growing love of most forms of music and an ever-growing awareness of girls. It was also in 1982 that Charles was first introduced to the world of Mobile Disc Jockeying - filling the role of “Equipment Movitation Engineer” for the first few years.

By June 1986, Charles had graduated from Columbia High School, became a full-fledged member and firefighter at the “Vigies” as well as joining the United States Air Force. It was also the year that he began performing as a Disc Jockey on his own, performing at school dances, picnics and fire company functions. Over the next ten years, he would perform a handful of events, never really considering it more than a hobby until he was introduced to Karaoke. In 1998 he joined “1-800-Hey-DeeJay” based in Lancaster, PA which had him performing seven nights per week with two or three shows on Saturday and Sunday. By mid-2000 he was close to being burned out from performing more than 400 shows a year, which came to a screeching halt along with his career as a firefighter when he sustained several serious injuries in the line of duty.

By 2001 it became clear that Charles would not be given the nod from his doctor to return to firefighting, but he did go back to DJing by joining Occasions Disc Jockeysof Elizabethtown, PA to help establish his DJ business again. But less than a year and several disagreements later, Charles decided that the time had finally come to strike out on his own, creating a unique entertainment experience that held higher ethical standards of business conduct and customer service. The part-time, bar-oriented company formerly known as “Wolfen DJs” was reorganized as the family and customer oriented company River Valley Weddingsin Wrightsville, PA.

From 2002 through 2004 Charles began writing a popular series of articles for the Mobile Disc Jockey Industry dealing with Computerized Performance Systems. As one of the pioneers in the use of CPS, his articles would eventually lead to the writing of three books on the topic with a fourth in the works. Since then, he has been featured as a speaker at several regional and national DJ conventions such as DJ Times International DJ Expo, Mobile Beat Summer Expo and the Computer DJ Summit. In 2006 he was added to the Disc Jockey University as a professor as well as writing a number of newsletter articles for the Canada-based DJ software company Tricerasoft. His third book - Introduction to Computer DJing & CPS - would be published by ProDJ Publishing, making a much-anticipated debut at the Mobile Beat Las Vegas convention in February 2008.

Charles’ passion for teaching and helping others is only rivaled by his desire to be the best entertainer he can be through ongoing education as well as participating in national organizations. He joined the United States Online Disc Jockey Association in 2004 and the American Disc Jockey Associationin 2006 - maintaining memberships in both organizations. In 2005 he also became one of the first few DJs in the world to obtain the CPSDJ Certification. Additionally, he joined Toastmasters York, PA Chapter in 2006 as well as becoming the President of the Central PA Chapter of the ADJA during the chapter-formation process.