Latest / Voices for Voices® / Empowering Beauty: The Evolution of Miss Wheelchair USA | Episode 146

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Empowering Beauty: The Evolution of Miss Wheelchair USA | Episode 146 · Voices for Voices®

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Welcome to another episode of Voices for Voices TV show and podcast.
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: I am your host, founder and executive director of Voices for Voices, justin Allen Hayes.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining us, for viewing this, for listening.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: We're well into over 140 episodes.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: So take a look at our YouTube channel, take a look at any audio platform, other video platform, as well as Hudson Community Television on Spectrum TV I believe that channel is 1021, or you can visit the Hudson Community TV website or Facebook and check this episode as well as others out.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: So in studio today, very excited, earlier this year I had the honor to be able to take part in playing a little music with the Special Needs Orchestra, hearts for Music, which you've heard me talk about when we've had Mr Chin on, so you're very well accustomed to him, and the event was the Miss Wheelchair USA event and, unbeknownst to me, the event is not only here in Northeast Ohio, but the founder as well is from Northeast Ohio.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: So after the event concluded, I was definitely thinking about the special needs and just the whole experience that the girls, that the ladies, got to experience at the event, and it's an annual event.
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: So we want to share about the event and inspire you and reach out to friends and family and let them know about the event and we can again spread this awareness.
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: So it's not just here in Northeast Ohio, it's national and international, so that's what makes it even more special.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: So joining us in studio is the founder of the Miss Wheelchair USA pageant, among other titles, dr Lockhart.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining us.
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: Thanks for having me justin.
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: It's great to be here yeah, uh.
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: So let's just uh, let's rewind the clock a little bit, back to 1997.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: Uh, what gave?
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: you.
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: That's a big rewind what, uh?
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: what, led you to want to inspire others with this competition?
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: I'm guessing that there are other personality traits you have about helping others that may have helped guide that.
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: At the time I worked for the county board of Summit DD.
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: So it was the time where folks were moving from institutions and from Weaver School and really segregated school situations into the communities and into public school settings and there was a lot of chaos, a lot of confusion, a lot of misunderstanding and you know, up until that point really, when folks talked about people with disabilities it was very much the oh, those poor people or oh, those special children and just very, it was very negative.
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: It was never what people could do, it was always what they can't do and how they needed to be sheltered and things like that.
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: So it was a little bit of a tumultuous time in the disability community at that point.
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: So when I came into the organization, they were really looking for a way to do things differently and a way to talk about people with disabilities differently.
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: And at that point also, for the first time in the history of the organization, they had lost the levy campaign, which had never, ever happened.
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: And so, under the direction of a really amazing superintendent, dr Norm Shubai at the time, he was like we have to do something different.
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: What are we going to do?
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: So I was very fortunate to be in the right place at the right time and have an opportunity to kind of bring crazy ideas to the table and have his support to try them.
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: Some of them worked, some of them didn't.
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: One of them that worked really well was Miss Wiltshire, usa, and at the time I had it was kind of the running joke at the county because I had been in the Miss America program and so I was like, oh, the pageant girl, you know.
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: So everybody was waiting for you to make a mistake, no-transcript what we're doing and is there something.
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: So he and I had a big conversation and it was like, okay, let's do a pageant for ladies with disabilities.
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: And I'm like you're really going to let this happen.
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: And he was like make it happen.
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: And so we did, and that was 28 years ago and we started out as Miss Wheelchair, ohio.
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: We did it locally.
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: We pretty much took over Weaver School, that complex at the time on Howe Road, and the gym.
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: We turned it into a theater, you know, to the point where we had genie lifts and we were hanging drapes on the walls and building stages with ramps and all those things, because there was no theater really that was accessible.
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: And so we made one and we built one and I was very fortunate to have a staff that liked to work really hard and really late into the night.
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: So we worked, we did that.
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: We did that for several years, just as a state program.
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: And as it started growing and getting bigger and bigger, people would come, ladies from other states, and they're like I really want to do this.
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: There's no such thing and how do I get involved?
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: And we're like you can't live, and we've been national now for, I believe, 17 years.
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: It's awesome, thank you.
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: And to be able to go that long and to continue the growth, with all the ups and downs and craziness that's going on in the world.
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: I found the show, the pageant, which is live stream and it shared many platforms, to be just impeccable, just the way from the beginning, the kind of intermissions that are going on and the different parts of the pageants, which truly like.
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: It's mentioned that there's around 4,600 different pageants and there were now two, one prior to yours for ladies in wheelchairs Right.
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: And there are other pageants now a few that are open to women, ladies, children with disabilities Certainly a little bit different than what we do.
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: I appreciate you saying show, because that was one of the things that was super important to me when we started, that I felt we needed to showcase these ladies Again.
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: My background is the Miss America program, so I came from being treated like a celebrity from the time you win the crown to the time you give it up, and afterwards we went on USO tours.
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: We did all those things and this was kind of one of the caveats to starting it.
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: I said, if I'm going to do this, this is what I want to do it like, because there are so many doors that are opened through that opportunity and I just felt that if we were doing it, why did it make a difference if it was Miss America or if it was Miss wheelchair USA for ladies with disabilities?
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: So we do do a show, we do do production.
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: They are part of an opening number, which is what you were part of this year, which, when I said we were bringing an orchestra, people just looked at me and shook their heads and just kept walking you know, and it was crazy.
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: It's always crazy, but but um looked beautiful and we really do.
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: Um, we're very particular about how the ladies are treated, how they're presented, providing them those opportunities, just like any other lady would be provided an opportunity like that.
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: So it's very important.
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: So thank you for that.
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: Oh, you're welcome.
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: I mean, and it truly was like a button up show.
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: I mean, it was awesome just to be a part, to see how that goes together.
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: Thank you, and it's a week long.
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: Right, the ladies come in right?
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: Well, because they come from all over the country and a lot of the contestants have never traveled because of their disability Again, one of those things.
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: Well, you can't do this, you can't, it's so hard to fly and it is difficult to fly with a chair.
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: But you figure it out, you know.
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: There's no reason why you can't.
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: You just have to learn some of the tricks of the trade to getting on a plane and making sure that your chair is protected and things like that.
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: But you know, a lot of them have never traveled, they've never been outside their local communities, and so this is a big deal.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: So they do come.
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: Most of the ladies arrive on the Friday or Saturday before we start on this year we started on Monday because of where we were with the holiday, but they're here from that time forward until the following Sunday, and it's a lot of rehearsals and events.
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: We did some new things this year.
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: We did fashionability, so we did an adaptive fashion show this year, which we've been talking about for a while, and so people loved it.
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: We had a lot of response.
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it was a lot of fun, and Be Free Company was one of our big supporters and provided all the ladies with adaptive pants, which were cool, and actually gave them to the ladies, which was fabulous.
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: And then we had different T-shirt companies that provided T-shirts that had different disability sayings and some of them were adaptive and no Limbits, provided some shirts and hats and things.
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: So it was our first shot at that and we're definitely going to do it again next year and so that was a new thing that we did this year.
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: We've always done workshops with the ladies, tried to provide them with some opportunities to learn ada, accessible information, ada laws.
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: Different sponsors have provided things, so we did workshop ability.
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: We kind of pushed it all into one day, opened it up to the public, so they had really a conference day with folks from the public being able to attend this year.
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: So that was great.
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: So it's a long week, it's a lot.
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: It is a long week, it's a lot I can just imagine from your perspective.
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: We're tired.
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: And I thought another part that was awesome was I don't know what the correct term is, but different I don't want to say show pieces, but being able to show the platform kind of visually.
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: Then you could actually walk through and see there was one of the contestants, she had bracelets with her.
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: Oh, the exhibits that were out in the lobby, the exhibits, yeah, we ask each one of the ladies to do an exhibit that kind of represents their state, their platform, what they do in their communities, what their backgrounds are.
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: So because folks don't get a chance to meet them in person really until they come that day.
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: We do do a lot of social media.
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: Ladies do a lot of media.
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: You know interviews and things like that.
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: But when you're coming from California or Washington State you know you're not running back and forth to Ohio.
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: So a lot of the folks that are here have never met these ladies before or the audience that's watching.
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: So we try to give them some opportunities to have some interactive things that they can actually spend a little time with.
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: So each one of the ladies builds an exhibit and talks about whatever is important to them to share, so people get to know them a little bit.
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: And the judges.
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: I mean you're bringing in some names, celebrities yeah, we are bringing in celebrities.
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: Why?
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: not, why eliminate?
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: them.
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: Other pageants do that and you know again, miss America, miss USA.
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: I believe that that's what the level of our pageant is and that's how we try to present it.
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: And of course, we're not doing swimsuit, we're not doing talent.
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: It's not that that isn't part of the competition.
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: It's definitely more speech and presentation and platform and community service things like that.
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: But yeah, I mean, we want it to be exactly like you would expect a national program to look.
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: So that's what we try to do and the celebrities that I choose, I'm pretty particular.
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: We just don't choose any old, famous people to come.
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: You know, we try to really look for celebrities who have an interest in community service, maybe not necessarily disability service, but people who will take an interest in what these women are doing in the world and hopefully offer them some opportunities too in the future, which we've seen happen over the years, which has been great Inspiration from them.
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: We have Matthew Hunt, who's come for the last couple of years.
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: He's a Hollywood producer and he is also a book author, has won several awards for his writing and we've had several ladies that he's helped get their books off the ground and done some workshops and taught them how to do that.
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: So we try to make it an awesome experience and and treat them just like anybody else would be treated at a national competition.
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: So somebody who's watching or listening and has an event that or an idea that they want to put together and make it into an event or a show, how would somebody go about getting started?
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: I guess like kind of from like your perspective of like behind the scenes, like obviously months, and you probably started planning for next year the day after.
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: We were planning for next year during the week.
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: During the week Right.
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: As soon as something happened I was like yep, okay, because this year especially, we did some new things.
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: So nope, we're never doing that again, or that didn't work or this didn't work.
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: And really we do have that conversation while the show's going on and then certainly for weeks and weeks afterwards.
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: So we've already started on next year's event, what we're going to do, what we're going to change if we're adding different things or taking anything away.
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: But certainly I mean my background is television, entertainment, production shows.
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: They sang, so I had that production background.
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: If you don't have that production background maybe you have a disability services background you need to surround yourself with people who do.
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: It just depends on what you want to do.
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: I mean, somebody doesn't just jump in crazy people like me maybe into a big thing like that.
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: But I was very fortunate, like I said, I was in the right place at the right time, with a lot of people around that were very supportive, and they still look at me and shake their heads on a regular basis but they're like, okay, let's go.
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: And you know, of course it's about the money.
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: It's really, you know, people have this very strange opinion that anything with disabilities is donated.
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: People get everything for free, and it's not free.
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: I mean, we do have to raise money to make it happen.
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: The ladies have to raise money to be able to come here, and I mean, obviously our goal is to be like Miss America and have big corporate sponsors that pay all the bills, and so that's one of the first things I would say corporate sponsors that pay all the bills.
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: And so that's, that's one of the first things I would say.
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: You know, certainly, once you decide what it is that you want to do event book, whatever the case may be it's great to have that idea, but then to be able to step back and think about the costs because you know, we just jumped in head first and and as it got bigger and bigger, very quickly you know those were things, we went oh, wait a minute.
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: You know, we need to step back and think about that.
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: And again, I'm very fortunate I have folks with me that have been with me for 28 years, so they take their vacations during that week.
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: They come for two weeks long and work hard and come back every year.
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: God love them and I couldn't do it without those folks you just couldn't, and they volunteer.
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: So a lot of people don't have that and a lot of people won't volunteer.
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: So that's a big thing, is really just be creative, be excited.
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: Certainly don't let anybody put a rain on your parade, but you do have to think about those pieces and if you don't know those pieces, surround yourself with the people that do so I'm thinking celebrities, are there publicists?
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: or direct communication.
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: That goes on, as, after you kind of go through your thought process of you know here, here's who I would like as judges.
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: I'm just I'm just wondering how that even happens, I mean for me because I from that world, I was very fortunate to have some ends with folks, so people that knew people, that knew people.
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: And when they say that that's exactly how it works most of the time, then other times I mean this year, alethea Crimmins, who is one of our judges literally I was a fan, I was a fan, I love her.
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: She's very motivating.
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: She's very motivating, she's very real.
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: She's out there, she just tells you how it is and you know if you're having a bad day, look at her stuff and you can't not smile, I mean, even if you go back to your bad day.
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: But for those couple of seconds.
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: And I just loved her and I know how she makes me feel and I thought, oh, you know, if we could get her to come, the ladies would just love her.
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: Because she does have a disability which I didn't realize, which was another thing that was really amazing to me.
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: She's lived with a serious speech impediment her whole life and really was told she couldn't do what she's doing because of it.
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: I didn't realize she had a speech impediment and she doesn't hide it.
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: I just never paid attention and so literally I DM'diment and she doesn't hide it.
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: I just never paid attention and so literally I DM'd her and she answered me.
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: Now I'm sure that you know I mean I.
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: It was a really good DM.
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: I really thought about how to do it what I was saying.
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: But you know, certainly you know she looked at the program and looked it up and was.
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: It was like yes, this is exactly where I want my message to be.
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: So I was doing the happy dance, like I know.
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: I'm like, I'm a star, I'm a star struck stalker.
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: With this one I really am and when she showed up I really found myself.
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: And I don't do that because I have been around celebrities my whole life and it's.
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: You know, they're just like everybody else.
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: They're people, but but she just is somebody, that is.
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: So she just glows when she walks in a room and you just feel her energy.
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: So I was a little like starstruck for a hot second.
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: She's a wonderful human, so that was a fluke.
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: A lot of times again, there are folks that I've worked with at different things or I've been at an event and felt like I've seen folks with people with disabilities or said that they had an interest in community service or whatever the case may be.
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: And you know, yeah, you go to publicists, you go to agencies.
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: It's not as easy to do the social media DM thing anymore.
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: At first it was a great way to get folks because people were answering personally and kind of bypassing management things, and that doesn't happen as much anymore.
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: I got lucky with Alethea but she, just like I said, I worked really hard on that DM before I hit that button, so I was glad about that.
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: But yeah, I mean publicists, agencies, and then you just kind of have to keep.
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: It's difficult because we don't pay folks to come here.
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: They come for free.
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: We sponsor their travel and their hotel and their food while they're here, but they don't get paid what they would get paid, they could be anywhere.
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: It's difficult in the summer too, because for a lot of people, especially musicians and artists, that's their busy time, so to take four days out of their schedule at that point for free management isn't always thrilled no-transcript.
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: How do you find inspiration to continue what you're doing?
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: A lot of times it's again the people around me.
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: And you know there are certainly days there's been many days where we've been like, okay, I'm done.
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: We've been doing this a long time.
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: You know it is hard, it's difficult and it's a lot of work and it's 12, 15 days most of the year trying to make it all happen.
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: And so I won't lie, there's hard days when I go, what am I doing?
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: And I've had many people say to me do you know how much you could?
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: You could be making so much money if you did blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: And it's like, yeah, that's probably true, but so one of our favorite stories and we have many over 30 years, but one year I want to say I think it was like 2016, was a particularly challenging year.
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: Everything that could have been insane was insane.
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: We had five or six ladies that were there to compete.
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: I mean, they were ready to go.
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: So there was.
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: They are competitors.
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: People come here to win.
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: They don't it's all like, oh, the they're pageant girls.
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: They do come to win and they work all year long to get here.
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: So we had kind of some serious competition things happening and, of course, you know it's pageant, so you got a little bit of that always, but it was one thing after another.
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: We had, you know, electricity issues in the building.
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: We were at a different facility at that point and I'm like I am done.
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: This is ridiculous, I'm tired, I'm done, I don't.
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: You know, I don't need this.
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: So we just got to get through the week and still trying to keep everybody else going when I knew I was done my script.
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: My computer crashed.
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: We lost everything.
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: I was writing the script for a Friday show on Friday morning, rewriting all of it.
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: So I mean, it was things like that that were going on.
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: I'm like okay, this is a message.
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: I need to stop doing this, you know.
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: So we were doing all of those things and this young man came in.
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: He was 19 at the time, cerebral palsy, in a chair, looked like Denzel Washington, beautiful, young, just beautiful.
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: He rolled in and, like everybody, looked, you know, just just very attractive, happy, very outspoken, you know well-spoken young man.
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: And he was there to see pretty girls in wheelchairs.
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: That's why he came, that's what he said he was doing there, that's why he was there, which was cool, because that's why other guys go to pageants, right, that's why you watch them on TV.
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: So he was there, he was talking with folks and we started the show and I just happened my assistant was sitting next to me, one of the production assistants, and I just happened to glance.
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: He was kind of sitting down over there and he was crying and I'm like what now?
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: What happened?
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: Now?
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: Somebody said something to him.
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: So I'm like please go find out what's going on over here.
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: And I just happened to see him.
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: So he went down and talked to him and he came back.
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: The show's going on.
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: I said what now?
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: What do I have to fix now, because it was that kind of week and he said don't worry about it, I'll tell you later.
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: I'm like okay, great.
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: So we get through the show, get a great winter, everything's great.
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: Sunday morning we have a farewell breakfast.
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: Everybody gets together, you know, like the.
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: Miss Congeniality thing because of course I saw that's the cool thing.
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: And so we're all standing there and everybody's like just leave, please, everybody, just go home, we're so tired, just go.
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: And Ted comes over and he says so, do you want to tell me what happened with Fabian last night?
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: I'm like yep, because I know I'll have to take care of that, right, and he goes.
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: He was crying because he was listening to the lady's speeches and his entire life he'd been told that he couldn't drive, he'd never get married.
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: Nobody'd ever want him, you know, as a husband or a boyfriend, because he's in a chair and he has cerebral palsy and you know he can't drive, he's not going to go to college.
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: Nobody will let him in a college.
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: You can't do any of those things.
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: And he said he came to this show and watched these women who were mothers, grandmothers, had doctorates, had professional corporate jobs.
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: The lady that won that year, sylvia, was a retired Air Force colonel, and I mean just all the things, that she was traveling the world by herself.
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah, all these things.
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: And he's like if these ladies can do this, then maybe I can too.
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: And he was sobbing and it gives me goosebumps every year just to think about it because the person that saved the pageant that year was a young guy in a wheelchair.
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: So you know, every year there's something or somebody that would go.
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: Okay, this is why we do this and all those other things.
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: They don't really go away, you still kind of remember and go, okay, that that sucked.
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: But you, you look at those things and and he is one of those people that and he comes back every couple years.
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: He was there.
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: He wasn't there this year, but he was there last year and, going to school, drove himself to the event, learned how to drive lives on his own, has a girlfriend doing his thing.
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: And he says, know, because I came to this pageant and saw these ladies, I went, yeah, if they can do it, if those girls can do it.
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: I can do it.
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: So I'm like well, there you go.
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: So you know, we try to always think about those pieces when it gets hard and when you go, yeah, I'm done with this.
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: It's like how many Fabians can we?
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: And you go, yeah, I'm done with this.
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: It's like how many Fabians can we inspire, how many people can we show that?
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's hard, nobody's lying, nobody's saying it's going to be easy.
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: Nothing is easy in the world for anybody.
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: But you know, it's those stories that you go.
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah, this pageant makes a difference to people and changes people's lives all over the country, all over the world.
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: Now, all over the world.
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and so you know, because we have our Ms Wiltshire International who went to Dubai.
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, she's been traveling.
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, so it does make a difference.
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: So that's how we keep going.
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: Those kind of Fabians are how we keep going.
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: That's remarkable.
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: Well, we're getting close to the end of our time.
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: Remarkable While we're getting close to the end of our time.
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: What plugs do you want to give and how people can find out more about the organization, the competition?
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: Our organization is part of the Dame Foundation, so that's the presenting organization.
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: We do services all year long for people with disabilities.
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: You can certainly find the Dame Foundation.
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: We're here, our offices are in Cuyahoga Falls, so we're local.
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: So you know, internet, web, all the social media you can possibly imagine, you can find us that way and you know, let us know what you might be interested in If it's, you know, being a volunteer for the Dame Foundation.
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: We have Project ELF coming up here in a pretty couple months I guess.
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: So always looking for folks to help with those kinds of things.
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: And then certainly the pageant.
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: You know we're working all year on that.
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: So we're always looking for volunteers, certainly contestants.
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: We started our teen program this year, so 13 to 17 and 18 and over, ladies with disabilities that use a mobility device.
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: That's the only caveat.
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: It doesn't mean that you can't walk or use crutches or have a prosthetic, but that you use some type of mobility device to get around.
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: And you know, come, enter, everything's online or just give us a call.
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: We'd be happy to talk with you and find out what ways you can get involved.
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: Certainly, sponsorship.
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: We're always looking for folks that can help us pay the bills so we can keep going, and for those that don't know, the uh, the competition as far as the timing right.
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: Well, applications are open now, so we have our first round of judging.
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: That's actually happening this week.
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: So our first applicants are in um.
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: So we take applications.
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: Um until april of 2025.
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: So we take applications until April of 2025.
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: So we've got quite a bit of time.
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: So, if you're thinking about entering, enter now so you have lots of time to work with the training and prepare and work in your community, raise money, get out there, get speaking engagements, things like that.
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: So, yep, enter now and get ready, because the pageant will be in July.
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: We're waiting to kind of confirm those dates, usually the second week in July, early July.
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: So it's already happening.
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: So give us a call, get involved, email us.
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: And there may be a podcast between now and then.
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: That's the secret.
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: No.
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: We'll air it after no, no, it's okay, yeah we've been talking about it for a while and we're actually building the set and things right now.
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: So hopefully we're hoping to have our first episode out in October and it's going to be called G4, and it's for women with disabilities and even women without disabilities.
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: You know, talking about glitz, glamour, goals, grinds, all those kinds of things that are part of daily life, but certainly with that little bit of pageant and glamour stuff going on too.
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: And this episode will be airing in October.
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: Oh, there you go.
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: So it's perfect, perfect timing.
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: That's awesome, that's perfect.
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: Thank you Well, dr Larker.
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much for coming and sharing.
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: I just think it's amazing.
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: It's awesome and I got chills when telling the story and even during the competition, listening to the platforms and seeing all the different.
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: I felt it was a show and I think anybody who was there or watch it is definitely a show.
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: Thank you.
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: Thanks, so come back next year.
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, come, come back next year.
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: We'll put you to work, don't worry oh yeah, definitely, yeah, it's.
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: It's uh to know your local that was.
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: That's the thing that people were surprised about.
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: Where is it?
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: It's like we've been here for 30 years.
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: Yeah, definitely great.
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: Well, thank you again.
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: Thanks for having me, absolutely, thanks a lot, and thank you, our viewers, our listeners, for joining us this episode of the voices for voices tv show and podcast, and we want to thank our in-studio guests.
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: Dr lockhart, uh, check out the.
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: Uh, the miss wheelchair usa story.
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: Uh, find out some of the background and, like was mentioned, if you or somebody you know would be interested in applying, sooner rather than later would be preferable.
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: So until next time.
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: I am Justin Allen Hayes, founder and executive director of Voices for Voices and please be a voice for you or somebody in need.