KSHB 41 reporter Olivia Acree covers portions of Johnson County, Kansas. Share your story idea with Olivia.
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With a couple of days left until Halloween decorations come down, there’s a unique display of pumpkins at an Overland Park home you can’t miss.
What started as two pumpkins 14 years ago has grown to more than 300.
“It's more of an obsession than just a straight hobby,” said Daniel Taber, who recently moved his family from California to Kansas.
When his son was born 14 years ago, Taber began carving foam pumpkins.
“We did really enjoy carving them the first year. And then the next year, carved a few more, few more,” Taber said.
The Taber home quickly became the “pumpkin house," a title the family gratefully accepted.
“You know, you either lean into it or you don't," he said. "We obviously leaned into it with now a little over 320-some pumpkins."
The Tabers' obsession also supports a good cause; they started collecting donations from visitors while living in California.
“We were like, okay, let's start at least taking some cash donations for the food banks,” Taber said.
This year, the family raised more than $700 for Harvesters, meeting their new neighbors in the process.
“We ended up meeting, we'll say, pretty much everybody on this street that first weekend,” Taber said. “As the word-of-mouth spreads, meeting a lot of other folks.”
Taber said kids have loved characters like Paw Patrol or Mickey Mouse, and teenagers have been big fans of the Taylor Swift carvings.
However, Taber can't pick just one pumpkin.
“It's kind of hard to always pick your favorite,” he said. “It's almost like picking out your favorite kid.”
If you want to see the pumpkin house, it's on the corner of 124th Terrace and Nieman in Overland Park.
While there, you can donate to Harvesters and/or suggest what pumpkin you’d like to see next year.
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