First-prize winning 'Pickle King' resides in cottage country

(L-R) Parry Sound-Muskoka MPP Graydon Smith, Parry Sound-Muskoka MP Scott Aitchison, Bracebridge Mayor Rick Maloney, and District of Muskoka Chair Jeff Lehman are pictured with Maloney's prize-winning pickles at the 2023 Fall Fair & Horse Show. (Supplied)

There has been a lot of talk on CTV News at 6 around preserving following National Pickle Day on Monday, and as it turns out, the widely acclaimed 'Pickle King' resides right here in the District of Muskoka.

The Mayor of Bracebridge, Rick Maloney, won a first-prize ribbon for his homemade pickle entry at the 2023 Fall Fair & Horse Show.

In an email to CTV News, Maloney wrote, "Sarah and KC have been having fun with Sarah's self-proclaimed 'pickle queen' title. I'll have you know that this mayor is the 'Pickle King.'

The prized pickles were officially recognized by MPP Graydon Smith, MP Scott Aitchison and District of Muskoka Chair Jeff Lehman.

In the email, the mayor called himself a "first-time winner, long-time pickler."

"Show your cucumbers you care and encourage them to be the best dill pickle they can be," he concluded.

Although most of the homemade 'cukes have been given away to friends and family of the mayor, he did share that there's one two-litre jar left, but "it's like that one bottle of very good wine that (he's) saving for that special pickle occasion."