Scooter the DJ and Bob Mesloh are hoping to enter the Guinness Book of World Records for the most people doing the Electric Slide simultaneously. The effort will take place Friday, Feb. 1, and you are invited to be one of the 10,000 people needed to break this record.
The event, at The Villages Polo Fields, is about more than dancing the Electric Slide. The purpose is to raise awareness about lymphoma and the research being done to eradicate the disease. Mesloh, the event’s organizer, is a lymphoma survivor.
The event will start at 1 p.m. with a practice session. Following that comes the record-breaker. And throughout the afternoon, volunteers will be collecting cash donations for lymphoma research.
“It is going to be a really exciting afternoon and a fun way to raise money for charity,” said Robin Richman, with the Lymphoma Research Foundation.
Guinness rules require one steward or leader for every 50 people participating. To facilitate the event, 200 leaders are needed. An orientation for stewards will be held on Jan. 17 at the Rohan Recreation Center.
To volunteer as a dancer or a steward, send an email to Richman at ridemanager@lymphoma.org. In addition to dancing, you can volunteer for setup, registration and to help count.
“This is a huge undertaking,” said Richman. “We need a lot of people to come out and support us so we can break that record. I know Scooter has been promoting it and the momentum is building.”
It is a really big challenge, and like lymphoma, I hope we conquer it,” Richman added.
For more information about the event, go to www.slideoverlymphoma.com.
Villagers are no strangers to being acknowledged in the Guinness Book of World Records. In September 2005, The Villages Buffalo Booster Club put together the world’s largest golf cart parade with 3,321 participants from Florida’s Friendliest Hometown. The event raised $29,500 for different charities.
Five years later, a group helping wounded military veterans who served in Afghanistan and Iraq tried to break that record but fell just short with 3,124 golf carts. But the event, hosted with the national nonprofit Hope for the Warriors, also included a golf tournament and was considered a huge success for raising money to help the cause.
