Fallen Firefighter's Kids To Open North Pole Airport 2021

NEW CITY, NY — The New City North Pole Airport Holiday Light Display will hold its 2021 lighting ceremony "First (F)Light" at 7 p.m. Friday.

The sons of fallen firefighter Jared Lloyd, Darius and Logan, will be the honored guests to "push the button" and start the season, said North Pole founder, designer, builder, operations manager, handyman and elf wrangler Gary Cirlin.

The NCNPAirport will also debut a new animated airport fire truck built and modeled directly from Lloyd’s Spring Valley Fire Department truck. It features fully working lights, wheels, water cannon and memorial seal as a tribute to Lloyd’s final call in March.

At the conclusion of the event, Darius and Logan will be surprised ("Shhh it's a surprise," said Cirlin) with dozens of new Christmas presents donated mostly by Duke of Oil and Tune in New City.

"Lenny from Duke of Oil really came forward with an unimaginable donation for the toys on top of the fact he will once again be matching all in-person donations every Saturday night towards Angel Flight," Cirlin said.

Both Spring Valley and New City fire departments will be on site with their trucks.

The Airport, located at 12 Oriole Road in New City, entertains thousands of guests with a dazzling aviation-themed holiday light display on Thursday-Sunday nights in December. The Cirlin family has shared their exuberant and creative display with the public for six years now, every year adding hand-built structures, lights and interactive displays, and always collecting donations for Angel Flight and People to People of Rockland.

Some of the thrilling features of the display this year are the 72-foot runway with all corresponding approach lights, taxi-ways, etc; the 11-foot tall “Elf Traffic Control Tower” with rotating radar dish; a dozen inflatable aircraft; and a nearly 8-foot tall Menorah so that all the holidays their family celebrates are included, Cirlin said.

There are also four interactive elements that guests can control from the public street.

The 2021 display will feature more than 85,000 lights (they had 9,000 lights their second year and Patch called that stunning). The lights are computer-controlled and synced to music broadcast on 98.1 FM.

"As an aviation enthusiast, combining my passion of aviation and the holidays has always been a goal," Cirlin said. "Several years ago, we started decorating our lawn with a small runway of lights and a single inflatable of the Snoopy Red Baron. We have grown it with additional lights, inflatables and custom animatronics each year into the community extravaganza it is today!"

Charity Collection

They will be collecting monetary donations for Angel Flight NorthEast, a non-profit, tax-exempt 501(c) charitable organization. Angel Flight provides free air transportation in private aircraft by volunteer pilots so that children and adults may access life-saving medical care. Guests can donate via cash or Venmo and other contactless methods.

The Cirlins will again be collecting non-perishable food items for People to People Inc of Rockland. A collection box can be found at the display.

2020 Facts

Over $24,000 was collected resulting in 80 angel flights.

Visitors to the display donated more than 3,000 lb of non-perishable food items for People-to-People of Rockland food pantry. SEE: Community's Generosity Overwhelms North Pole Airport Family

They got to appear on national TV Dec. 16 in the "feel good" segment of ABC’s “LIVE: With Kelly and Ryan." Watch it on YouTube and admire the t-shirt.

For this year's dates and hours, visit the New City North Pole Airport Facebook page.

MORE READING: Patch's 2017 article on their second year.