The Little Italy Neighborhood Association held its first meeting Thursday as a recognized neighborhood of Omaha. Residents met at Santa Lucia Hall to begin discussing their first agenda items as a community. The campaign for recognition started over a year ago, according to longtime Little Italy resident Pat Venditte.

"The one thing that I think is most important is that the tradition continues now. I hope it's not lost with the passing of time, but so many young people today, the grandparents and their grandkids and their great-grandkids, they seem to have a great deal of interest in the culture, the foundation that was laid here on the Little Italy," Venditte said.