New York State Society - Buffalo Nite (Night) in Washington DC (more info)

History of Buffalo Nite

INAUGURATION: In 1978, the event started with modest beginnings in the Capitol, Room EF 100. Staffers from the Offices of Representatives Kemp, LaFalce, and Nowak organize the event. Large and enthusiastic crowds spilled into the Capitol hallways at the inaugural event called "The Buffalo Party." The tradition exhibiting Buffalo pride through signature food and drinks and an event format was established. "The Buffalo Party" continued under the management of Western New York Congressional staffers through l985.

EVOLUTION: Buffalo Chamber of Commerce ran the renamed "Buffalo Night in Washington, DC." from l986 to l992. The event was held at times in Washington hotels and other venues in the Cannon, Longworth and Rayburn Buildings of the House of Representatives. Additional Buffalo flavor and hometown management was added. An attendance record of 1,200 set in 1986.

REVOLUTION: New York State Society assumes stewardship in l993. A larger committee implemented a multitude of new ideas. The event was retitled "Buffalo Nite." The "Charging Buffalo" Award was presented to recognize outstanding Buffalonians and there was more corporate sponsorship, more food, live music, charitable contributions, and a unique logo created. Buffalo Nite receives annual support from New York Senators and Members of Congress. Attendance at Buffalo Nite and membership in New York State Society increases annually.

TRADITION: A showcase of Buffalo, New York State’s second largest city, gateway to Niagara, Buffalo Nite is an annual celebration of Buffalo pride and traditions right in the heart of our Nation’s Capital. The "City of Good Neighbors" legacy attracts hundreds of local Buffalo people and fellow New Yorkers. Friends, food, fun, reminiscence, comradeship, and conversation are sparked by thoughts of Millionaires Row, Kleinhans, Hertel, Elmwood and Chippewa haunts, the HSBC arena, the new airport terminal, the Aud, Shea’s Performing Arts Center, Lake Erie and the waterfront, Albright-Knox, Delaware Park, the Bills, Sabres, and Bisons, the Universities, Our Lady of Victory National Shrine, the Allentown Festival and the Broadway Market. Buffalo, each year is number one for a special night in the shadow of the Nation’s Capitol Dome.

Corporate Sponsors - 2005

PACEMAKER
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company - CUBRC - FannieMae
Healthcare Association of NYS (HANYS) and the WNY Healthcare Association
HSBC North America
International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers (AFL-CIO)
National Fuel Gas Company - New York Power Authority

CHAIRMAN
Cassidy Associates
Delaware North Companies, Inc.
Edison Electric Institute
Independent Health - Kaleida Health - Moog, Inc.
Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation
Verizon - West Valley Nuclear Services Company

BISON
Ambassador Bridge Group
American Home Mortgage
The Barenthaler Group - Buffalo Bills, Inc.
The Buffalo News - Corning , Incorporated
Eastman-Kodak Company - Energy East Corporation
First Niagara Risk Management Group Inc.
Maid of the Mist Corporation
Motor Freight Carriers Association - The SKM Group

Food, Beverage, and Product Sponsors

Anthony Road Wine Company	Labatts, USA
Antoinette’s Sweets	Mineo & Sappio Italian Sausage
Battistoni Bison Products Co, Inc.	Coors/Molson Company
Beer Institute of Washington, DC	Pepsi-Cola Company
Bison Foods Company	Perry's Ice Cream
Bocce Club Pizzeria Inc.	PJ’s Crystal Beach Loganberry
Charlie The Butcher	Rich Products Corporation
Chef’s Restaurant of Buffalo, Inc.	Rosina Food Products, Inc.
Costanzo’s Bakery, Inc.	Sahlen Packing Co., Inc.
Genesee Brewing Company	Sorrento - Lactalis Inc.
Grevey’s Restaurant/Sports Bar	Upstate Farms Cooperative Inc.
Heinz and Weber Company	F. Wardynski & Sons, Inc.
Ilio DiPaolo’s Restaurant	Will Poultry Company

Door Prize Sponsors - 2005

Adam’s Mark Hotel - Buffalo

Glory Days Grill

Albright-Knox Art Gallery

Greater Buffalo Savings Bank

American Home Mortgage - P. McCarthy

Hoffman Communications

Amherst Museum

Holiday Valley Mountain Resort

Anderson’s Custard

Hyatt Regency Hotel - Buffalo

Lauren Belfer

Ilio DiPaolo’s Restaurant

Bison Baseball Inc.

Jimmy’s Old Time Tavern

Brennan’s Bowery Restaurant

Kissing Bridge Corp.

Brownstone Restaurant

Lancaster Raceway Park

Buffalo Athletic Club

Laughlin’s Restaurant

Buffalo Bills

Lockport Locks/Erie Canal Cruises

Buffalo Chophouse

Martin House Restoration Corp.

Buffalo&Erie County Historical Society

Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing

Buffalo&Erie Co. Naval & MilitaryPark

Miss Buffalo/Niagara Clipper Cruises

Buffalo Games, Inc.

M&T Bank

Buffalo Museum of Science

NEO Gift Studio

Buffalo News

New York State Division of Tourism

Buffalo Niagara Convention/Visitors Bureau

New York State Office of Parks

Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra

Nino’s Pizza

Buffalo Sabres

Old Fort Niagara

Buffalo Spree Magazine

Old Orchard Inn

Burchfield-Penny Art Center at BSC

Oliver’s Restaurant

Café Italia

Palmer Care Chiropractic

Center for the Arts, SUNY at Buffalo

Parkside Coffee

Chef’s Restaurant

Premium Wine & Spirits

Colden Tubing Company

Rich Blake

D’Arcy McGee’s Pub

Roycroft Inn

DC United Soccer

Salvatore’s Italian Gardens

Eagle House Restaurant

Studio Arena Theatre

ECMC Lifeline Foundation

SUNY at Buffalo

Eileen’s Centerview Bakery

Tim Russert

Fred Frommer

Tony Rome’s Restaurant

A Brief History of the City of Buffalo

In 1758, Frenchman Chabert Joncaire established a farm and trading post within Seneca Indian territory at the mouth of the Buffalo River. Abandoned when the British attacked Fort Niagara in 1759, "Riviere aux Chevaux," remains the first European agricultural enterprise in Western New York.

After the Revolutionary War, the Seneca Indians, British allies, relinquished their lands to reside on reservations. A multi-ethnic, multi-racial group of new settlers began to build their dwellings near the site of today’s downtown Buffalo stadium.

The Holland Land Company obtained title to the area in 1793. After British troops evacuated Fort Niagara in 1796 and the Seneca ceded their land rights to the Holland Company, Joseph Ellicott began planning Buffalo. He adopted a radial street pattern similar to the one Pierre L’Enfant used for the nation’s capital. Ellicott and his brother, Andrew, served as surveyors in Washington. While Ellicott named his proposal for Buffalo’s streets "New Amsterdam" to please his Dutch employers, local citizens persisted in calling it Buffalo Creek, then simply Buffalo.

The War of 1812 saw bloody campaigns on the Niagara Frontier. In the winter of 1813, the British burned the entire village of Buffalo to retaliate for the American destruction of York (Toronto) and Newark (Niagara-on-the-Lake).

Later developments established Buffalo and Erie County as vital centers of trade and transportation. In 1818, the first Great Lakes steamboat, Walk-in the-Water, plied the lakes of Buffalo. Then, in 1825, the Erie Canal opened to link Lake Erie with the Hudson River at Albany and the Atlantic Ocean at New York. Buffalo became a transfer point in the flow of products between Eastern cities and the agricultural Midwest. Buffalo played a crucial role to ship and process Midwestern grain. Irish immigrants who came to the county to work on "The Big Ditch" became the first in a series of ethnic groups to make their homes in Buffalo. Large numbers of Germans, Italians, Poles, African-Americans, and many others joined them later.

The railroad arrived in the 1850s, solidifying Buffalo’s position as a trade and transportation hub. Before the Civil War, Buffalo was an important station on the Underground Railroad that helped slaves reach freedom in Canada.

The City of Buffalo gained international recognition in 1901 with the Pan American Exposition. The Exposition strengthened relations between the United States and Central and South America and introduced the world to large-scale electrical lighting. President William McKinley was assassinated while attending the Exposition.

After his death on September 14, 1901, Theodore Roosevelt took the oath as the 26^th President of the United States in the library of Buffalo’s Wilcox Mansion.

With the arrival of steel making and hydroelectric power at the beginning of the 20^th Century, Erie County became a major manufacturing center. Related jobs in the automobile, aircraft, chemical, and refractory industries burgeoned. Support jobs in retailing and publishing also flourished. Prosperity at that time fostered Buffalo arts organizations and educational institutions that remain today.

Did you know that the name "BUFFALO" comes from the French expression "Beau Fleuve"
which means "beautiful river"?
The name Niagara comes from the Indian word Oniawgarah, "the thunder of waters."
Discover more Buffalo-related literature and movies

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Contact the New York State Society:
Email: NYSS@att.net or snail-mail to: PO Box 786, Arlington, VA 22216
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