Holiday home decorated for a good cause

For nearly four decades a home located on 16th and Cheyenne has been adorned in lights and inflatable decorations for every major holiday.

This holiday season the homeowner, Evelyn Burns, has done it again.

“I do it to see the amazement in peoples eyes,” said Burns, “The wonder, the magic that the children see and even the adults too.”

Burns has made decorating a tradition that everyone in the community has come to expect from the home in downtown Tulsa.

This year Burns decided to expand the display and opened up her backyard area for people to walk through and enjoy a collection of holiday vignettes.

Cyrus Peterson is one of four men who help Burns execute her design visions for the display. “Each year she gets more and more stuff,” said Peterson.

Peterson tells FOX23 that it takes about a month to get the home decorated. He says the biggest challenge is making sure that all of the bulbs are in working order and that his boss, Evelyn, is happy.

“Everything has a spot, she has a home for everything,” said Petersen.

The backyard vignettes include a South Beach scene, Western Christmas, Mountain of Misfit Toys, Alien Holidays, Gingerbread House, an Elf Dormitory and a Nativity scene.

Evelyn says she wants the attraction to have a purpose. She is collecting food donations for the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma.

“I know what it is like to be a mother and worrying about putting food on the table,” said Burns.

Burns experienced the struggle first hand as a single mother trying to feed her two boys.

“By the grace of God I didn’t have to use food stamps or go to the food bank but there was times that it was very close,” said Burns.

She told FOX23 that she hopes the decorations will bring awe to children’s eyes and food to families in need.

Evelyn says that she will keep her holiday home open to the public and collect food until January 6th.