Norman family lights up season as 'gift to community'

Last year, visitors donated 7,391 pounds of food and $37,208 in cash, Kimberli Downs said. “In total, this generated 270,066 meals for the hungry. We're hoping for another record-breaking year this year,” she said.

Getting technical

Every year, the show changes slightly, with different configurations and different songs. This year, Kimberli Downs said, “yard rings” were added to give more movement to the display.

Pre-staging, such as building the arches and preparing the mega-size tree strands begins in September. Outdoor setup begins around mid-October and takes about a month.

The large mega trees have 64 light strands, with each strand consisting of a red/green/blue three-strand set, totaling 192 strands. The trees are 70 feet tall.

Ten mini trees, which are 8 feet in height, have 12 strands of lights on each.

The display also features large leaping arches that are 20 feet long, with 16 channels. The small arches are 10 feet long, with eight channels.

More than 80 control boxes and 13 miles of extension cords are spread across the yard, Kimberli Downs said.