Council passes resolution to declare 'Little Italy' area

• Posted by Orange Transcript on September 24, 2009 at 4:00pm
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By Chris Sykes, Staff Writer
The Orange City Council last week passed a resolution designating the area around the intersection of Mechanic Street and Lincoln Avenue as “Little Italy.”
Although the resolution was long overdue in the minds of some residents, it came a few days after the city’s annual Italian American Festival on Sept. 12-13. It featured food, fun and music that was made available to residents.
The resolution followed a proclamation by Mayor Eldridge Hawkins Jr. to designate the area as “Little Italy.”
Andrew Farro, a restaurant owner within “Little Italy,” said the festival itself is about letting other city residents who are not Italian be “Italian for a day.”
It sounded like a good opportunity to longtime city residents such as Bill Hathaway, an Orange Democratic Committee district leader who lives down the street from Farro’s restaurant.
“This was long overdue and should have been done a long time ago, but I’m just glad it was now,” Hathaway said. “I would also like to thank former Councilwoman Maria Vandermeer for her work in the community and with organizations like the Orange Italian American Organization. None of this would have happened without hers and others advocacy over an extended period of time.”
At Large Councilwoman Donna K. Williams also thanked Vandermeer, Farro and company for organizing and sponsoring the festival and continuing to be such integral part of the city’s diverse community. Prior to her affirmative vote for the resolution, Jackson said she thought so much of this year’s festival that she posted a comment about it on her Facebook account.
“Hope you made it to the festival,” Williams wrote to her Facebook friends. “If you did, I hope you had a chance to eat a least one zeppole; they were fantastic!”
Whether she knew it or not, Williams was channeling a little of Hawkins and Planning and Economic Development Director Valerie Jackson in her online remarks. Hawkins and Jackson said they had personal and public-minded reasons for supporting the resolution designating “Little Italy.”