Over the past few months, we’ve introduced you to the 2008 Krystal Lovers Hall of Fame inductees and kept you updated on their Krystal experiences with links to news articles and highlights of photos and videos from the various induction ceremonies. We’ve also given you a sneak peak of the legendary Krystal Hamburger Boxes, which feature the photos and stories of each Hall of Famer. Now, we’re excited to announce that the new Hamburger Boxes will be available in restaurants starting this Monday!

On Feb. 9, Krystal Lovers can visit one of the company’s 400 plus restaurants across the South to eat their favorite Krystal or Krystal Cheese out of the new packaging. Each box includes an illustration of the Hall of Famer, a quote that describes his or her passion for Krystal as well as personal facts such as the inductee’s hometown and favorite Krystal meal.

We’ve already made friendly wagers around the office to see who can collect all 15 first. What makes the game even better is if you’re acquaintances with one of the inductees on the box. There are perks to knowing one of these Krystalebrities! Just ask all the friends and family members that received a complimentary Krystal meal at the induction ceremonies.

A few of the Hall of Famers you might know include: Georgia State Coach Bill Curry of Atlanta, Ga.; top ranked competitive eater Hall Hunt of Jacksonville, Fla.; Country Giant Radio Personality Gator Harrison of Cookeville, Tenn.; Krystal contest winner, Gabby Champion of Baton Rouge, La. and Auburn student Everett Duke of Phenix City, Ala.

To read more about this year’s group of inductees, check out the Krystal Newsroom on Krystalist.com or click here. You can also visit the Krystal Lovers Hall of Fame website at www.krystal.com where the inductees will forever be enshrined.

If you would have peaked through the windows of the St. John’s Bluff Rd. Krystal last night, you would’ve seen a restaurant packed with Krystal fans laughing, eating and enjoying some local entertainment. That’s because 2008 Krystal Lovers Hall of Famers Hall “Hoover” Hunt, John Evans and John Hires joined family and friends as they told their personal Krystal stories first hand at their official induction ceremony.

Krystal’s executive team recognized these three by unveiling the life-size illustration of their very own Krystal hamburger box, by preserving this honor with a Krystal plaque to be hung in their beloved Krystal eatery for eternity and by celebrating with their favorite Krystal meal, compliments of Krystal. After all, with a combined consumption of over a thousand Krystals, it’s only fair that they get to enjoy a few on the house!

Check out the video footage and more photos below…

Tis the season for family traditions, and for Jacksonville locals John Hires and John Evans, that means it’s the time of year for Krystal. For these Hall of Famers, Krystal is the place that Hires and Evans gathered with their moms, dads and children to enjoy monthly family outings, celebrate football game wins and even rejoice a baptism.

Now, Hires and Evans are excited to join another fellow Krystal fan, Hall Hunt, while they celebrate another special occasion with their family and friends – the official Krystal Lovers Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.

Also a Jacksonville local, Hunt is one of the world’s top professional eaters and veteran Krystal Square Off competitor since 2005. After consuming thousands of Krystals for training, Hunt earned the title of “Mr. Steamer Pack” at his local Jacksonville restaurant.

Come meet the infamous Hall “Hoover” Hunt and join the celebration with Hires and Evans on Monday, Dec. 15 at 6:30 p.m. at the Krystal located at 3515 St. Johns Bluff Road, where we will unveil the inductees’ very own life-size Krystal Hamburger box. You won’t want to miss it!

Check out this video of Pastor John Hires’ throwing a Krystal Christmas party for his youth group…

Click here to read their full stories…

The folks at The Florida Times-Union know how to have fun while raising awareness and money for a great cause.

The Jacksonville-based newspaper has been hosting a full week of employee activities to benefit the United Way, and they’re capping the week off with an employee carnival complete with games, entertainment and a speed-eating contest emceed by Krystal Square Off competitor Hall “Hoover” Hunt.

The amateur gurgitators competing today all contributed to the United Way fund in order to participate, and they will have one minute to consume as many Krystal hamburgers as possible. Hoover, who holds the Jacksonville Krystal-eating record (60 in eight minutes), will be on hand to provide tips before the contest and will start the countdown to begin. He will also announce the winner, who will have the choice of either two Jacksonville Jaguar game tickets or an iPod.

We’re hoping to have video of the event early next week. For now, check out www.liveunited.org to find out how you can get involved with the United Way today.

We don’t think we ever got around to posting some of our favorite photos from the Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Championship, so here they are.

And no, we’re not crying, we just have something in our eye.  Ok, ok, we may be crying just a little, but looking at these makes us a little sad that we have to wait an entire year for the next Krystal Square Off. Stop laughing!

For more Krystal Square Off photos, head over to Flickr.

Pat Bertolleti, the no. 2 eater in the world, is expected to put up high numbers in Atlanta.

The Georgia Qualifier for the Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Championship will take place at Lenox Square Mall in Atlanta tomorrow at 2:00 p.m., determining who will join Humble Bob Shoudt, Hall Hunt, plus the remaining TBD qualifiers and Wild Card picks at the World Championship table in Chattanooga on September 28.

Pat Bertolleti, the number two eater in the world, is the favorite in tomorrow’s competition with a personal best record of 94 Krystals in eight minutes.  Tim Brown (no. 13) and Allen Goldstein (no. 15) will also compete and are expected to battle it out for second.

Head over to the Krystal Square Off Blog for more interesting facts and “quick bites” on tomorrow’s eating competition, including a completle list of confirmed eaters.

Hall Hunt claims victory over Sonya Thomas with 60 Krystal burgers, setting a new Jacksonville record.

Courtesy of the Krystal Square Off Blog

The second of seven regional qualifiers for the Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Championship took place today in front of a boisterous crowd in a hot and sticky Jacksonville, Fla., and it was the hometown hero Hall Hunt, the eighth ranked eater in the world, who reigned supreme by devouring 60 of the fast food icon’s famous hamburgers in eight minutes. On his way to victory over a field that included the fiercely competitive Sonya Thomas, Hunt eclipsed the previous Jacksonville Qualifier record of 52 Krystals set in 2006 by Joey Chestnut, the world’s top ranked eating pro.

The win earns Hunt a spot at the FSN South-televised final table of Krystal Square Off V on Sept. 28, held in Krystal’s hometown of Chattanooga. There, Hunt will go up against defending champ and Krystal world record holder Joey Chestnut, three-time Krystal Square Off World Champion Takeru Kobayashi, the top finisher from each regional qualifier and three wild card entries. On the line will be a $50,000 cash purse, the largest in competitive eating history.

Hunt’s win over Thomas, who finished second today with 55 Krystals, brings The Black Widow’s impressive 12-0 lifetime qualifier streak to an end. Her mark today though could be good enough to earn her one of the coveted wild card spots at this year’s final table.

Finishing in third today was Rich Guadagnolo of Jacksonville with 15 Krystals. Guadagnolo was one of the five amateur eaters chosen on the spot to compete right before the contest began.

Bruce “The Hangman” Pobanz, who rightly predicted he’d lose to Sonya Thomas, ate just 12 Krystals.

In other competitive eating news, Eatfeats is reporting that Humble Bob Shoudt claimed his second victory over Joey Chestnut and Pat Bertoletti in the spaghetti chili contest at King’s Island.  Shoudt consumed 13.5 lbs to win $2,500 while Chestnut downed 13.2 lbs to take home $1,500.  Bertolleti was in third with 11 lbs.

It will be interesting to see if Shoudt can out-eat Chestnut when the two meet up again in Chattanooga at the final table of the Krystal Square Off V on September 28.

In the meantime, stay tuned as we’ll bring you all the latest in Krystal Square Off V news.  You can also check out the Krystal Square Off Blog for photos and podcast interviews with the eaters.  And don’t forget to sign up to follow the Krystal Square Off V Qualifiers via Twitter for live, instant updates.

Get instant updates from the Krystal Square Off V tour by following us on Twitter.

Krystal Square Off V officially kicks off in Chattanooga in a couple of hours, and if you find yourself thinking “man, I wish I was there” or “I can’t wait until the Krystal Square Off Blog is updated so I know what’s going on” or “what’s this hamburger competitive eating stuff all about” – well, you’re in luck.

Thanks to the wonderful world of technology that is Twitter, you can be the first to find out what’s happening along this year’s hamburger eating tour. From what the competitive eaters are saying before the gurgitating contest, to what they’re saying afterwards, to the final results and everything in between, sign up today to follow the official Krystal Square Off V Twitter feed at twitter.com/ksquareoff and you won’t miss a thing.

Never heard of Twitter? Well, it’s an instant, micro-blog that allows us to send messages, known as “tweets,” directly to everyone following our feed. These updates will be displayed at twitter.com/ksquareoff and delivered to your Twitter page. Not only that, but you can sign-up to get tweets via IM, SMS on your phone, RSS, email or through an application such as Twitterrific or Facebook.

You can read more about Twitter here.

So go ahead and stalk us by signing up for the Krystal Square Off V Twitter feed today. Oh, and you can also stalk some of our Krystal competitive eaters like Hall “Hoover” Hunt and The Hangman.

Go ahead, we won’t think you’re creepy.