Thousands of Villagers and area residents flocked to The Villages Polo Fields on Friday afternoon to raise money for a special cause – and to attempt to break a Guinness World Record.

Thousands of Villagers and area residents prepare to make an attempt to break the world record for line dancing to the ‘Electric Slide’ on Friday at The Villages Polo Fields. The event, ‘Slide Over Lymphoma,’ was put on to draw awareness to the disease and collect donations for much-needed research.

The large and boisterous crowd, led by the always popular Scooter the DJ, came to take part in the world’s largest line dancing event. But the event, titled “Slide Over Lymphoma,” was about much more than just dancing the Electric Slide. The bigger purpose was to raise awareness about lymphoma and the research being done to eradicate the disease, said Bob Mesloh, a two-time survivor.

“Where else could you do this in the United States but here in America’s friendliest town,” said Mesloh, who has been working with the Lymphoma Research Foundation for many years. “I don’t know how to say ‘thank you’ enough. From the bottom of my heart, I have to say, ‘thank you, thank you, thank you,’” added the Village of Dunedin resident, shortly after the crowd did the “Electric Slide” for five minutes and 15 seconds.

The event kicked off at 1 p.m. and as Villagers and area residents filed into the polo fields, Scooter filled them in on the plan for the event. He also shared some facts about lymphoma. And he thanked everyone for participating and guaranteed they’ve had a great time.

As always seems to be the case with the most popular DJ in The Villages, he delivered on that promise – and more.

Villagers and area residents prepare to take part in an attempt to break a world line dancing record on Friday.

“It’s totally awesome,” said Marguerite Desbrow, of the Village of Duval, who also is heavily involved with Villagers for Veterans and Villages Honor Flight. “It’s totally awesome!”

Debbie Campana, of the Village of Glenbrook, agreed.

“It’s a great cause and I’m so glad to be here, I wouldn’t miss it,” said Campana, whose son, Derrick, has appeared on Animal Planet for his work with orthotics and prosthetics for animals. “It’s great to be out in the sunshine, seeing my friends and being able to dance. I do love to dance,” added the Gemstone Dancer.

From left: Villagers Patti Siebers, Mike Grogan, Debbie Campana and Marguerite Desbrow do their part in an attempt to set a world record in line dancing to the ‘Electric Slide’ on Friday. Grogan’s wife, Pat, was an official at the event who helped keep track of a group of participants as part of the requirements to set a Guinness World Record.

Pat Grogan, one of 400 volunteers at the event, said she enjoyed seeing the camaraderie among the thousands of participants.

“I’ve met a whole new group of people here,” said the Village of Belle Aire resident. “They all came together as a group and are really happy just to be out here.”

Villagers David and Sunny Hester, center in orange shirts, dance in the ‘Electric Slide’ event at The Villages Polo Fields on Friday afternoon.

As a volunteer, Grogan’s role included one very important assignment.

“We have to keep the people dancing for five minutes,” she said before the official dance started. “Hopefully we can do it.”

Meanwhile, Jayne Marvin, a Realtor with ERA Grizzard in The Villages was having a great time with some of her colleagues as they anticipated the big moment.

Villager Jayne Marvin, back row third from left, and her colleagues from ERA Grizzard in The Villages took part in Friday’s line dancing event.

“My co-workers thought it would be a win-win to support a great cause and line dance as well,” said the Village of St. Charles resident. “Scooter the DJ always brings his game to the show. And we had five minutes and 15 seconds of the ‘Electric Slide’ performed by thousands. I love The Villages!”

For Village of Pine Ridge resident Wayne Bryant, Friday’s event truly held a special meaning.

“I think it’s awesome,” said Bryant, a lymphoma survivor who organized a group of about 30 Villagers calling themselves Trussler’s Hustlers for the street many of them live on. “We’ve been supporting the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for years. This really is about community and helping one another.”

Carol Zagrosh, a member of Trussler’s Hustlers, said she loved being a part of such a special event.

“If somebody told me a year ago I’d be doing this, I would have laughed,” said the Village of Pine Ridge resident. “And here we are.”

The always popular Scooter the DJ led Villagers in dancing to the ‘Electric Slide’ on Friday at The Villages Polo Field. The group of several thousand area residents were participating in ‘Slide Over Lymphoma’ and hoping to break a line dance record. Scooter called the dance the best he’d ever seen and said he was ‘blown away.’

Once the event was finally finished, Scooter the DJ took a deep breath and reflected on the event.

“We just did a huge ‘Electric Slide’ and I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Scooter, whose real name is Michael Miller. “We taught it, we walked through it, and then we did it. And I’m blown away.”

Thousands of Villagers who attended Friday’s event at The Villages Polo Fields were all smiles as they attempted to break a line dancing record in support of lymphoma research.

Scooter said he was particularly impressed with the precision of the thousands of dancers.”

“It’s the best I’ve ever seen,” he said. “They turned at the same time. It was just incredible,

This panoramic view shows the thousands of Villagers and area residents who participated in Friday’s attempt to break a world line dancing record on Friday.

Organizers of the “Slide Over Lymphoma” event now have a lot of work to do to attempt to get into the Guinness Book of World Records. They have to submit proof of how many people participated, testimonials from volunteers that people danced for at least five minutes and photos and video from the event.

“I’m not sure if we got enough to break the record,” Mesloh said. “But what counts is people came out and had a good time. We tried to break the record and we got a lot of donations.”

A group of Villagers known as the Trussler’s Hustlers took part in Friday’s event at The Villages Polo Field. The group, largely from the Village of Pine Ridge, was organized by lymphoma survivor Wayne Bryant.

Not surprisingly, Villagers are no strangers in attempting to set Guinness 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.

Top photo: Villagers show their respect to the American flag during the singing of the ‘Star Spangled Banner’ before the line dancing event at The Villages Polo Fields. Bottom photo: Army veteran and Village of Dunedin resident Tom Holtmeyer salutes the flag during the singing of the national anthem. He and his wife, Lynn, right, lost a daughter to cancer and both agreed that supporting Friday’s event geared at lymphoma research was quite important.