Blake Tange earns Scouting’s highest honor: Eagle Scout . . . and the community’s respect

Doug Graves © 2007

Eagle Scout Blake Tange got his eagle wings and the distinctive Eagle Scout badge at a standing room only ceremony in the East Hills Moravian Church in Bethlehem on Saturday. The ceremony was, at times, an emotional outpouring of support and admiration for this Freedom High School senior. Family, fellow scouts of all ages, local political figures and national leaders all had messages of congratulations for Blake and expressions of admiration for his mother, Lynn Woolf-Tange and his father, Mark Tange of Bethlehem.
City of Bethlehem Mayor John B. Callahan proclaimed Saturday as “Blake W. Tange Day.”
Blake’s accomplishments are astonishing.
Dr. Joseph A. Lewis, Superintendent of Schools in Bethlehem, in a letter to Blake said, “You are an invaluable young man who has achieved more in 17 years than many people will achieve in a lifetime.
“. . . an outstanding achievement which reflects your hard work and dedication,” said President and Mrs. George Bush.
Governor Edward Rendell, in letter to Blake, said, “May [your] values and commitment to community . . . continue to serve you in the future.”
“I commend your sense of duty,” said United States Congressman Charlie Dent.
“A remarkable achievement,” said Vice President Dick Cheney.
State Representative Steve Samualson said, “. . . by [his] personal example Blake is living testament to the virtues of duty and citizenship that he has so generously and readily displayed.”
He has earned 55 merit badges. (Only 21 are required for the rank of Eagle Scout.) He has hiked 86 miles. He has spent 225 nights camping out. He has held 16 local and national Boy Scout leadership positions. Not listed in his Eagle Scout Court of Honor résumé of achievements, is his recent recognition by the Traveler’s Protective Association with their annual award for altruism, doing good with no expectation for reward. Nor is listed his award and recognition last week for leadership in Freedom High School’s S. A. D. D. (Students Against Destructive Decisions) program.
Why are his accomplishments astonishing?
Blake has cerebral palsy; he walks with an aluminum frame. Every step is a struggle. He was born with a cyst on his brain that has limited him since childhood and has marked him as different from his peers.
But, he has a genius for leadership--- the best kind of leadership —leadership by example. His ability to define goals, then lead people to accomplish the very difficult is what has focused the community’s attention on this young man.
“When Blake first got into scouting,” said one of his early leaders, John Orno, “It was not a question of getting Blake involved. It was a case of getting out of his way!”
“It is hard for other kids to say ‘I’m tired,’” said Dr. Sally Haggerty, his Troop Committee chair, “when they see Blake on the trail.”
Scout leader after leader stepped forward and told different versions of the same story. Emerging from their testimony was a picture of a young man with a smile and a can-do attitude. Here is a man with a compassion born of an understanding of the human condition and its many frailties-- and its strengths, too. He is a man who doesn’t let his physical limitations bound his or any one else’s life.
Singer-physician and former Miss Philadelphia Kiplee Bell came to honor the young man and his accomplishments with her beautiful singing. “I am honored to be part of Blake’s celebration,” said Dr. Bell.
Murnell Schuller, met Blake when he proposed to do his Eagle Scout project for the kids at Camelot for Children where she is the director. “He amazes me with his upbeat, inspirational attitude,” she said. Blake’s project transformed an overgrown wooded lot into an “Enchanted Forest” accessible for handicapped children. “After meeting Blake, some of the physically limited boys, themselves inspired by Blake’s example, joined the Boy Scouts.
Schuller said that later when a large volunteer working party from Air Products came to Camelot to help with landscaping maintenance that several parents, upon seeing Blake’s accomplishments, encouraged their Boy Scout sons to chose Camelot for Children for their own Eagle Scout projects.
“Only about five percent of the boys who enter the Boy Scouts achieve the rank of Eagle Scout,” said Dr. James Roberts, Blake’s Scout Master and professor of chemistry at Lehigh University.
Scout leader Robert Sperling said, “When you first meet Blake, you see that he is a pretty big fellow. When you get to know him you realize he is a huge human being.”