The Trouble With Owning a Grain Elevator

Rick Smith. Surely one of Buffalo's most colorful characters. From the circa 1970 convertible to the huge white Stetson on his head, from the towering and immense Silo City to his bushy mustache, everything about Smith is Big, especially his ideas.

Our favorite entrepreneur, the one who kickstarted our love affair with our grain elevators and underwrites the iconic Boom Days every year, is profiled along with his beloved Silo City in - believe it or not - The New Yorker.

The Trouble With Owning a Grain Elevator is not only stunningly well written (this IS The New Yorker, after all), it manages to capture the essence of one of the complex and critical personalities at the heart of Buffalo's resurgence. It misses the mark a bit in capturing the role played by the silos. From the industrial slag heap to brilliant beacons on the waterfront, their trajectory holds more meaning than Lynn Freehill-Maye conveys. But we know the back story.

Savor the full article here.