Encinitas company specializes in partying

By: JESSICA MUSICAR - For the North County Times | Friday, March 5, 2004 8:17 PM PST ∞

ENCINITAS ---- For 8-year-old Nick Heller's sixth birthday party, he and a group of his guests played X-Men as they got to climb boulders, fly across a small lake on a zipline, and took part in other adventures at San Dieguito Park in Encinitas.

"The kids just go home all pumped up saying, 'Mom, I want to have a party like that' ---- it's really cool," Nick said.

The party was thrown by X-treme Fun, an Encinitas-based mobile disc jockey and party business that specializes in parties for both children and adults.

Nick's mother, Shelli Heller, has held 25 parties with the business since she learned of it in the mid-1990s. She said she has thrown birthday parties for her four children, as well holiday shindigs and bashes just for her friends.

"(The parties) always exceed my expectations," she said. "It's always outrageous and blows everybody away."

Owner Scott Feld, who often DJs the parties, throws everything from a simple dance with or without light effects to the elaborately messy "things my parents won't let me do at home" parties in which children have food fights, throw pies and slip across "Jell-O slides."

Other parties include "Dance and Drama Craze," where guests spend hours dancing, playing dance games and learning new moves; and "Wacky Water World," where kids wage water wars with an arsenal of water balloons and squirt guns.

The age of the guest of honor can range from 6 to adult.

Part of the appeal of an X-treme Fun party is that the host doesn't have to worry about the details ---- they can have as much fun as their guests, Heller said.

"(Feld) is in total control. I didn't have to make the party work ---- that's the beauty of it," Heller said.

Feld and his employees also provide entertainment for bar mitzvahs, weddings, birthday parties, graduations and almost any other event a client can think of.

For children's parties, Feld charges by the number of guests. A two-hour party of 25 people or less costs $400; one with 50 or fewer guests runs an additional $150, Feld said.

For adult parties, the dynamics are a little bit different, he said, because many adult parties require less supervision and are often simpler than a child's party. These tend to have no guest limit.

To order and set up an event, Feld speaks with a client beforehand to learn about the child or guest of honor's interests. Depending on the answer, Feld often suggests a particular theme.

Many of Feld's clients have either attended another of his parties or heard about it from friends, he said. Most are North County residents.

Before Feld started his business 10 years ago, he taught karate at a studio in Encinitas. At one point, a parent of one of his students suggested that he start his own business that somehow dealt with children. This, combined with a Rollerblading accident, Feld decided to start FIDAKA, an athletics and dance party company that eventually evolved into X-treme Fun.

Feld said he hopes to turn X-treme Fun into a franchise that will grow into other areas of the country. The company grossed $205,956 for 2003.

"If I can create something where kids can say, 'That's the best party I've ever been to' or had, then that means everything to me," he said.

Standout Facts

Name: X-treme Fun

Address: 204 N. El Camino Real, Encinitas, CA 92024

Phone: (858) 792-9111

Web: www.xtremefun.org

Established: 1994

Services: Theme parties, disc jockey services, lighting effects and party accessories

Employees: 11

Size: 900-square-foot home office/studio

Sales: $205,956 for 2003

Jessica Musicar is a frequent contributor to the North County Times. Contact her at gwyllion@aol.com.