The aging, rusted and faded powder blue Hamburg water tower looms prominently on the edge of the New York State Thruway.

You can't miss it, perched along Howard Road, poking up above the tree line. In fact, neighbors say their grandsons call it "the spaceship."

That's one way to see it. Others, however, say the tower is distinctly hamburger shaped. Fitting, since Hamburg claims to be the birthplace of the first hamburger in 1885. That claim is celebrated every July, when the community bands together for its popular Burgerfest.

Twenty-four years ago, the idea was floated to paint the tower to reflect that hamburger heritage, bun and all. Some liked the idea; others did not want the town to be known just by a hamburger. In the end, town fathers nixed the idea of the tower's burger painting, even with the town's name added to it.

Now, the idea has circled back. A petition is making the rounds to have the water tower painted to resemble a towering hamburger to welcome people to "the town that friendship built."