In April 2018 a dream was posed to a group of local residents and business owners: what would it be like to nurture community over a shared meal of wood fired pizza baked with love in a community bread oven on the back lawn of the church? In our mind’s eye we could see a community bread oven serving and strengthening the ties between the people of Sheffield by encouraging local scout troops to earn a bread baking badge; offer bread baking classes to the public; designate a particular day of the week for individuals to bring their own dough and bake their own bread; local groups could bake bread to give away; monthly ‘make your own pizza’ community dinners on the lawn ; how about fresh communion bread…
By fall of 2019 we were well on our way. Wilkinson Excavating prepared the site and installed the drainage pro bono; Michael White Contractors framed the pad, drew up the pavilion design, and served as our advisor, pro bono; mason Hunter Basset took care of having the cement pad completed, at a reduced cost as well. RJ Beham Forest Products teamed up with logger Jay Wolf, Pine Island farm and Jim Kelly to donate the trees which Will Conklin milled into timbers for the pavilion.
Much has transpired since then, including a pandemic that shows no sign of abating. And yet, during these past few years the dream has not shown any signs of evaporating. Now, as 2021 advances and the pool of vaccinated folk continues to grow, we are again hopeful that the final push to make this dream a reality will align with the light that is one day surely at the end of the tunnel!
A small team of volunteers will build the masonry base will build the base for the oven and donate some of the materials. We are working closely with Kevin Schmitz of The Marketplace, who has been part of the community planning team since April 2018.
The Hewins’ family has donated red Sheffield stone for the façade. (This is the same quarried stone pictured here from The Old Stone Store.) Sam Coates-Finke from Backyard Bread in Northampton, who shares our spiritual understanding of a community bread oven as a means to build connections, break down barriers, and nourish both body and soul, will build the oven at a rather reasonable cost.
A goal of $10,000 will complete the process of making this dream a reality. Already a community member has stepped forward with a $2,500 dollar for dollar matching grant. Donations may be made through the Donate button at the firstuccsheffield.org website, or by mailing your tax-deductible donation to PO Box 387, Sheffield, MA 01257. And, your ideas are welcome for more ways the community bread oven can bless the community!
