More than 300 people participated in Wareham's ninth annual Relay for Life in an effort to make strides against cancer. The event raised more than $50,000 for the American Cancer Society.

"It's a time for friends and family to come together, raise money, and have fun," said Relay for Life organizer Helen Gabriel. Fellow organizer Mike Duff quickly added: "It's a celebration!"

A celebration of life and survival.

Relay for Life is made up of teams which fundraise for months leading up to the event, even continuing to raise money during the event itself by selling everything from candy to smoothies.

During the event, which ran from 6 p.m. Friday until 11 a.m. Saturday, each team had at least one member walk on the track at all times to demonstrate the fact that cancer never sleeps.

The theme of this year's event was "round up for a cure," prompting participants to don cowboy hats.

One team, Party of Ponte, even created the Pontiac Ranch at their site and handed out toy ponies for participants to "ride" around the track.

Party of Ponte - made up of family members - participated in memory of Linda Dupont, who died in 2007 at age 45 from liver cancer.

"She was everybody's mom," said Mike Ponte, Linda's brother.

Ponte owns of Pontiac Tree and fundraised through "Stumping for a Cure." Instead of paying him to remove tree trunks from their properties, customers would instead write a check to the American Cancer Society, Ponte said.

Since 1985, Relay For Life events across the United States have raised more than $3.5 billion for the fight against cancer.