There was dancing, pick-up football, massages, arts-and-crafts, movies, tears and reminiscence this weekend at the Middle School track, as 340 walkers and at least that same number of supporters, friends and curious onlookers gathered to raise $65,000 at Wareham's eighth annual American Cancer Society Relay for Life.

And just as cancer is indiscriminate in its victims, the participants were of all ages, athletic abilities, and income levels. They all came together, however, whether an infant in a baby carriage or an elderly survivor in a motorized chair.

"It's not individuals doing the event," said event chairperson Helen Gabriel, who started Team Perseverance in memory of her parents for Wareham's first relay. "It's the town coming together for the same cause."

The event began at 5 p.m. on Friday and continued until 11 a.m. on Saturday, and participants from over 30 teams camped out to walk around the track in memory of those who have died from cancer and in celebration of those who have survived the disease.

"Luminaria," white paper bags decorated with the names of loved ones who had died from cancer and containing a candle, ringed the track, and many teams had booths with food, games, and fundraising activities.

Team Hope offered beads for each lap completed that could be strung on a necklace. This year, the beads were blue and white in honor of the Vikings basketball championship, said Tim Connor, who walked 35 miles last year in his sixth relay.

Team Bells Angels, which consisted of friends, family members and students of dance teacher Jayne Bell, offered crowns, swords, magnets and magic wands to decorate for two dollars.

The international event, which last year raised $385 million at 5,040 sites across the United States and in 1,000 communities around the world, had a theme of "birthdays," in recognition of the increased numbers of birthdays celebrated by those receiving treatment for cancer. The event kicked off with a Cancer Survivors' Celebration Lap and then reception where 82 survivors gathered to enjoy food donated from local businesses.

As darkness fell, a touch-football game attracted high-school students, superheroes from Erika's Dance Academy performed "The Rescue," and deejay Carlston Wood played dance tunes.

At 9 p.m. 1,800 luminaria were lit, and the track became silent as Sharon Sylvester Faniel, who organized the event for its first five years, read a poem and participants did a silent lap in memory of those who had succumbed to the disease.

The entertainment, and walking, continued long into the night, however. Steve Ruiz with the Onset Movie Company set up a screen to show Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, guitars came out (as did a lot of bug spray), and things quieted down as the luminaria guided a record number of walkers around the track.

"The first year, we were in the Middle School cafeteria and just walked around the halls," said organizer Marcine Fernandes. "It's grown so much, now we couldn't fit in there."