We have a winner! Crosby crowned as Best Rink Burger community

It was a photo finish, but the lone American community involved in our Best Rink Burger contest has come out on top.

Crosby edged out Midale in the finals by just eight votes, 244-236, and now has bragging rights for the region.

The North Dakota community also beat out Lampman and Wawota on its way to victory.

"I think it's pretty special actually," said Rachele Krebsbach, who works at the concession at the rink in Crosby. "We've been making rink burgers for quite a while. We started at our old rink, and that's kind of where the famous rink burger started. I personally think it's the fried onions, but that's just my personal opinion."

Krebsbach said a lot of people in Crosby were following the fun competition.

"Especially at the rink. It was fun to just visit about it, or somebody would ask, 'Do you see what our numbers are,' wanting to know where we were at in the standings for the rink burger. They thought it was pretty cool," she said.

Crosby is only about 50 kilometres southwest of Estevan. Krebsbach said Canadians come down to their rink frequently.

"Before COVID, lots of our Canadian teams would come down, and they may have snuck a burger or two back home with them," Krebsbach laughed. "It's a lot of fun...we love going up to the Canadian rinks too. Hockey's a great sport, you get to meet a lot of good people, and good communities."

Krebsbach said she's been to Midale and spoke highly of their burger. The community wedged between Estevan and Weyburn knocked off Torquay and Alameda on its way to the finals, creating some buzz in town.

Chef Ron and his burger in Midale got a ton of support during the contest. (Submitted photo)

"Everybody was so excited and we never expected to be in that kind of competition so whenever they saw us in the community they cheered us on," said Ronualdo Bangkil, known as Chef Ron in Midale. "It's like you're creating a bunch of food for your own families. For us, we are very honored that every customer we are serving is like a family that really enjoys our food."

When asked if Crosby now had international bragging rights, Krebsbach just laughed.

"I don't know, I guess we're going to have to get a sign. Put it up in the rink that we won a burger contest up in Canada," she said.