KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A popular Christimas display in Olathe, Paulie’s Penguins, transformed for Halloween into Faith’s Spooktacular Grounds.
The penguins have been replaced by skeletons and ghosts for the month of October.
The Halloween display and Christmas display work for the same purpose — raise money for cancer research.
“My husband said, 'Hey, we're gonna go see Paulie at his penguin display,"' said Faith Owens, co-owner of Paulie’s Penguin Legacy & Faith's Spooktacular Grounds. "Then he goes, 'Oh, by the way, we're buying all this."' And I'm like, 'Okay, well, new adventures."'
After buying the business, Faith was diagnosed with cervical cancer.
“I went to the doctor, she's like, 'We need to do surgery, and we can't wait because it's that aggressive,"' Owens said.
Always a fan of Halloween, she wanted to start Faith’s Spooktacular Grounds to celebrate the end of her cancer journey.
Faith's husband found out their lighting expert, Ethan Barthol, owner of Heartland Chirstmas Lights, had his own connection to cancer.
“She (Ethan's girlfriend) was diagnosed last March,” Barthol said.
His girlfriend, Praelie Barnett, is battling Hodgkin's Lymphoma.
“He (Faith's husband) called me. Was like, 'Hey, do you want to be the beneficiary of this?"' "And I was like, yeah, that'd be awesome,” Barthol said.
All donations to the Halloween display will go to Praelie. She and Ethan are grateful the season of giving came early this year.
“Cancer treatment is not cheap, so it's very exciting,” said Barthol.
Owens is just happy to be spreading Halloween cheer.
“We just came back to this original neighborhood where Paulie was from. Thought we would just bring it full circle and sponsor someone with lymphoma,” said Owens.
If you visit Faith’s Spooktacular Grounds, you can leave a donation in the green box by the front door to help pay for Praelie's cancer treatment.
The display is at 16494 W. 132nd Court, Olathe, Kan.
