Close

After being canceled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Omaha's Santa Lucia Italian Festival is back. For the first time in nearly two decades, the festival returns to the area of its home neighborhood this weekend. The 97th annual festival will be held near 10th & William Streets, in front of St. Frances Cabrini Church and Sons of Italy. The...

957

Tomatoes, onions, and garlic are sauteed and reduced to a perfect consistency. The sauce is seasoned, and roasted red peppers are marinated in the mixture. Freshly charred sausage is then covered with the peppers to create the iconic sandwich of Omaha’s Santa Lucia Festival. The process of creating the sausage-and-pepper sandwich reflects the love,...

1256

Omaha has long been a city of immigrants. The Irish and Germans arrived in the 1860s to work for the railroads and later in meatpacking plants. South Omaha seemed to be the melting pot of the city, with Eastern Europeans finding their way to the city in the late 1800s. But, it seems like Italian immigrants have had a major influence on the culinary...

1455

Like he’s done every fall Saturday since before he can remember, Thomas Fidone settled in to watch and cheer on Nebraska football. This was Nov. 21, nearly three months after the top-rated tight end in the Class of 2021 made national headlines when he committed to the Huskers in a televised ceremony. Taking in games as a pledge felt different — if...

803

October 12 2020 Roma, Italy / The United States

2189

The yearly Italian festival will have a new look this year due to the coronavirus. Traditionally held in early June, the 96th Santa Lucia Italian Festival will be held on August 22nd and 23rd. The organizers had to put the festival on hold because of the virus. The festival will be reduced to two days instead of the normal four. Of course, the fest...

791

A local landmark ravaged by fire 3 years ago is finding a unique way to keep them going a little before re-opening. Sons of Italy has been closed since the pandemic started, but they’re making meatballs and sauce and sometimes sausage to sell to members and loyal customers. In 2017 a fire destroyed the building. They re-opened in February and had h...

863

Team Italy switch-pitcher Pat Venditte was named as a member of the 2020 Creighton University Athletics Hall of Fame class on March 25, 2020. The Omaha, Nebraska native enjoyed a successful collegiate pitching career while attending nearby Creighton University from 2005 to 2008 and posting the school's single-season record for ERA (1.88) and appear...

1032

Crowds once again gathered at the popular Sons of Italy dining hall that burned down in an accidental fire more than three years ago. The reopening of the popular lunch and dinner spot had been delayed a few times because of a lack of funding and issues with construction. But Thursday, it was spaghetti and meatballs for everyone who walked through...

817

A piece of Omaha's history will rise from the ashes on Thursday. That's when spaghetti dinners will return at the Sons of Italy Hall. It comes more than two years after a two-alarm fire destroyed the building near 10th and Pacific. Before the fire, the Sons of Italy held spaghetti dinners as a fundraiser for its community activities.

1317