Buda family makes holiday display for charity after cancer diagnosis

BUDA, Texas - A home in Buda is lit up with a dazzling light display but for homeowners Chris and Blythe Powell it’s about more than just celebrating the holidays.

2021 has been a tough year for the Powells. Blythe was diagnosed with brain cancer in April. She underwent radiation and chemo and doctors said she had about 15 months to live. It was devastating news but after establishing care at MD Anderson their feelings changed a little after Blythe’s tumor was reclassified.

"We realized that that’s not a really finite number and there are people out there that have been around decades since this type of diagnosis," Chris says. "And so with that, we decided we wanted to share some hope and some gratitude around the fact that she’s still here. We’re still here."

The arrival of their daughter Waverly also helped change their perspective. Chris says he and Blythe realized that if Blythe had been diagnosed earlier, because the tumor had been around for a long time, that they probably wouldn’t have had Waverly. 

"There’s hope out there and there’s finding those gratitudes, finding things to be grateful for and sharing that with others," Chris says. "We want to spread that cheer as much as we can."

So the Powells decided to put up their lights and raise money for MD Anderson through donations from people who go by to check out the display. 

Last year, Blythe designed all the lights and Chris was in charge of the electronics and hooking things up. Blythe wasn’t feeling up to designing this year so Chris took the same designs but added more lights. And there’s a lot of lights. Chris says there’s about 10 to 12,000 lights in the display. He says it took about 40 hours in total to put everything up and friends and family members helped with the pixels and things. The lights sync up to music played on a FM transmitter and right now there are three songs.

Chris says the display is a fun creative release and that he enjoys creating and building stuff. It’s something he hopes his daughter will grow to embrace as well.

Neighbors Chris has talked to have enjoyed the display and Chris says they may expand and make it a neighborhood block light show in the coming years. He plans on adding a few more lights as well.

The show is at 230 Treetop Way and runs every day from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on the hour. Chris says the display should be up through the new year. He also reminds people that there are flashing light sequences so if that’s a concern people should not go watch. 

For more information, you can go the Powell Family’s Facebook page.

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