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Mr. Inspiration pageant shines spotlight on men with intellectual disabilities

Posted at 7:24 PM, Mar 29, 2018
and last updated 2018-03-29 21:24:19-04

OREM, Utah -- A non-profit organization hosted their Mr. Inspiration pageant Thursday in Orem.

The organization called TURN works with people with intellectual disabilities to make their lives better and easier for them and their families.

Every two years they host an event that recognizes their group’s life stories and awards them the title of Mr. Inspiration.

Seventeen men competed for the title this year. Utah’s royalty, other crowned winners from across the state, judged the competition.

Spanish Fork’s Axuray Talbot is this year’s Miss Utah’s Outstanding Teen; she went with other royalty, like Miss Westlake’s Outstanding Teen Sydney Glass, backstage to meet and get acquainted with each contestant.

“I made so many new friends,” Talbot said. “I made a friend over there, her name is Maddie, and she came up to me and said ‘You look pretty’ and I said 'You always look pretty’, and now we are best friends.”

Pat Boyle is TURN’s operations director for Utah County, and she said the Mr. Inspiration pageant is something for everyone to experience.

“All of these people have amazing stories and they are equally the same as everyone else out in the community, and they rarely get their story told, and that is what our purpose is today,” Boyle said.

To learn more about Mr. Inspiration and TURN, click here.