Community Pizza Oven

A World War II-era relic converted into a wood-fired pizza oven is bringing members of a rural, eastern Idaho community together to eat, socialize and take on a difficult discussion topic — mental health.

FFA officers at Rigby High School spearheaded the effort to transform an 800-pound, steel ball used as a buoy during WWII into a massive pizza oven standing on four legs.

Rigby residents chose to build the oven as their community project for a University of Idaho Extension statewide mental health program aimed at providing aid and resources to rural Idaho communities and food producers.

Brad Schaat and Kaiden Sorensen, who were juniors in the high school’s fabrication class, collaborated on welding and construction of the attention-grabbing oven as a final project. A local fabrication shop designed and built a trailer that will haul the oven for use at various community events.

Using funding from a $200,000 Western Regional Agriculture grant, UI Extension tasked 17 small cities beginning in late 2022 with hosting a series of public discussions about the elevated risk of depression and suicide in rural America. Upon completion of those discussions, each participating city received $3,000 toward implementing a creative approach toward improving local mental health.

Signage on the trailer and oven will offer facts and resources intended to raise awareness about the serious threat of untreated mental health problems and depression in rural America.

“The hope is this becomes a focal point where people will say, ‘Hey, what the heck is that?’ and people will walk over to see it, and there will be enough information around to bring about the conversation of what this project is for,” said Lex Godfrey, the Rigby High School agricultural teacher of the fabrication class. “Food and fire bring people together.”

Inside of the oven, bricks will be laid atop a bed of sand covering a platform of concrete blended with vermiculite. The oven will have the capacity to bake about a dozen pizzas at a time in under six minutes.

UI Extension educator Lance Hansen, Madison County, who serves on the Extension farm stress management team, and Josh Tieken, who serves on the Rigby FFA advisory board, got the idea for the oven after visiting Burlington, Washington, together. They photographed another oven made from an old buoy for use in a program called Pizza for Producers.

Student FFA leaders liked the concept and began seeking donations and materials. They plan to use the oven annually during a Homecoming tailgate party. There are also plans to bring it to an area dryland farm next fall for a feast with farmers and to a local park for a community picnic. The oven will be available for farmers and local organizations to borrow for their events, as well.

“We know there are a lot of kids in our school and community who struggle with mental health issues,” said Kayda Hickman, Rigby High School FFA president. “Having an event like this at the high school and being able to bring those kids together kind of shows them they’re not alone.”

Godfrey’s father donated the buoy, which had been used domestically during WWII to hold up nets intended to keep submarines from entering the Puget Sound. Godfrey’s grandfather served in the war and brought the buoy back to the family’s dairy, where it was used for storing and hauling molasses.

For more than a month, Schaat and Sorensen worked a couple of hours on the oven every day after school. The students had to use their math skills to properly design how to attach legs to a sphere, and they’ve both been pleased by their results.

“It showed me what Kaiden and I are capable of doing with our imagination, just going off a picture,” Schaat said.

The total cost of building the trailer is estimated at $12,000 to $15,000. In addition to the initial grant funding, UI Extension is providing some additional internal funds. AgWest Farm Credit has pitched in $3,000, and the project’s leaders are soliciting additional community donors to contribute toward construction and food supplies for making pizzas.

“Even if they don’t necessarily discuss their mental health at the event, when we do serve these pizzas, just them talking to other people and seeing the issues they’re having and creating relationships, that can help them with their mental health, as well,” said Joel Ricks, FFA student advisor.

The communities that participated in the Extension mental health program have implemented a wide range of projects to improve local mental health. Residents of Eden and Hazelton applied their funding toward establishing a community center in a donated building. Wendell chose to hire bands to host music in a local park. Weiser created a pamphlet promoting local resources for those struggling with mental health or food insecurity. Several communities have also continued their public discussions about mental health.

Published in Catching Up with CALS