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White Castle inducts Cravers into Hall of Fame

October 12, 2011

On Oct. 20, White Castle is inducting 12 dedicated Cravers from six states into its Cravers Hall of Fame. Hundreds of applications were submitted for the designation.

Of the 830 stories submitted, a panel of judges whittled the list down based on brand loyalty, creative presentation, originality and magnitude of "the crave."

The class of 2011 inductees include:

• Richard Crosby, Richmond, Ky: The music professor eats at White Castle at least 300 days a year.
• Donnie Fisk, East Prairie, Mo.: The soldier was deployed to Iraq in 2005, where he bought cases of White Castle Sliders to eat every day, including on missions.
• David Fong, Troy, Ohio: The journalist wrote a column in his local newspaper touting White Castle's dedication to battling autism. His son was diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder in 2009.
• Constance Huening, Cincinnati: The 90-year-old Craver was born the same year White Castle opened its first restaurant. She starts every year by eating a Slider on New Years Day.
• Steven Jones, Aransas Pass, Texas: Jones' earned a first class seat on a flight because of a package that read "Human Organ Transplant Tissue." The cooler actually contained Sliders, however.
• Patrick Keller, Colesville, Md.: The member of the U.S. Navy fixed his crave by having Sliders transported over 2,400 miles to his base in British Columbia.
• Andrew Kusnirik, Ben Jones and Pat Voigtsberger, Hamilton, N.J.: The three friends made a long road trip to White Castle and spent $55 on food.
• Breanna Litzau, Desoto, Mo.: Litzau's grandfather ate his favorite Sliders every day until his death. Now the 16-year-old carries on the family tradition.
• Connie Lowe, Upper Marlboro, Md: Lowe's Polish great grandmother started the tradition of eating White Castle and now Lowe is joined by her 33-year-old daughter on trips to the chain.
• Georgina Torres, Bronx, N.Y.: Torres and her friends of the NYPD Youth Explorers had been meeting weekly at a White Castle for the past five years until she recently joined the U.S. Army.

This year, White Castle also inducted three "Cravers in Extremis" – The "Grumpy Gourmet" Doral Chenoweth, Sgt. Bob Brush and Speaker of the House John Boehner.

The class of 2011 is flown into Columbus, Ohio for a special ceremony at the White Castle home office followed by a private dinner at the Ohio Historical Society.

"Our Cravers are some of the most loyal customers out there and the Cravers Hall of Fame is one of our favorite White Castle events," said Jamie Richardson, vice president of corporate relations. "Loyalty is a quality that is important to our company and it's important to the people we serve every day."

The Cravers Hall of Fame was launched in 2001. Since then, 8,810 people have applied for inclusion, and 80 have been inducted.

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