Princeton Airport will host the 31st annual Santa Fly-In on Sunday, Dec. 24, at 11 a.m. Admission to the popular event is free, but participants are required to bring new, unwrapped gifts of clothing, books or toys for distribution to needy children. The gifts will be collected and distributed through the Mercer County Board of Social Services.
Although toys are a common donation, items such as scarves, mittens and other articles of clothing are welcome.
Personal checks made out to the FoodBank Network of Somerset County will also be accepted.
In response to devastating natural disasters around the world, Princeton Airport is also collecting new clothing and toys for children of all ages to be distributed by various agencies to disaster areas, including Guatemala and Pakistan.
The airport has set a deadline of Dec. 16 for the collection of gifts for area needy children in order to enable county workers to arrange for the best matches. The gifts can be deposited in the "chimneys" in the lobby at the airport between the hours of 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Readers wishing to have their children participate in the event are instructed to bring a wrapped gift for each child with his or her name in large print to the airport lobby. If there are several children participating, their gifts should be wrapped in the same paper and tied together to expedite distribution. It is requested that these gifts do not exceed 12 inches in size.
On the day of the event adults are advised to bring the children prior to 11 a.m. and wait in the maintenance hangar. Santa will call in on the airplane’s radio, which will be transmitted over the loudspeaker. While waiting, members of the Princeton Airport Flying Tigers will be serving cocoa and cookies. Pat McKinley, a folk singer, will lead the attendees in a variety of holiday songs.
Once contact has been made with Santa, the children will go to the ramp in front of the hangar where they can watch Santa fly low over the runway. He will then land and everyone will return to the hangar and Santa will distribute each gift individually. The event will be held regardless of the weather. It is recommended that parents bring a camera. The distribution lasts about an hour and a half.
In fairness to all, Santa will distribute the gifts in the order in which they are received at the airport.
Princeton Airport is located in Montgomery Township, 3.5 miles north of Princeton on Route 206.
For more information, call (609) 921-3100.

