WICHITA, Kansas – What started as a hobby for Steve McKinney has turned into a gift for hundreds.
“Ever since I was a kid, I've always liked to put up decorations,” said McKinney.
But it was six years ago when McKinney watched a TV show on crazy Christmas decorations that he officially got bit by the bug.
“We started doing it as a hobby for ourselves and people reacted so well that we don't know that we could stop,” said McKinney.
Fast forward to 2011 and the McKinney's house on North Coolidge Avenue is a Christmas light spectacular featuring more than 100,000 lights, 17 electric boxes and a software program that puts it all together with music, but not without some major man hours.
“It takes about 40 hours of programming for a 3 minute song,” said McKinney.
And with a 15 song performance, it takes more than half the year just to program the display and then there's the actual stringing.
“It takes six weeks to put it up and about maybe a week to get it down,” said McKinney.
But what started as a hobby has turned into a gift, not just to the Kansas Human Society and Interfaith Ministries, who are the recipients of thousands in donations but to the hundreds of guests who sit outside the McKinney’s every night watching, listening and remembering.
“This older fellow, he had to be 75, 80 years old…he said, ‘It just reminds me of Christmas when I was a kid and how special it was,’ and he kind of had tears in his eyes and I thought, wow!” said McKinney.
Christmas at the McKinney’s, lighting up faces and North Coolidge Avenue.
For more information, visit www.ChristmasAtTheMcKinneys.com.
