TROY, Mich. (WXYZ) — A 15-year-old Life Scout from Troy is making history while working toward one of scouting's highest honors.
Anson Pingree built an 1830s-style bread oven for Troy's Historic Village as part of his Eagle Scout project, creating a functional piece of history that will serve the community for years to come.
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"It's cool. It's like I built a little piece of history and it gets to stay here for as long as the village exists," Pingree said.
The ambitious teen wanted his Eagle Scout project to leave a lasting impression.
"I didn't want anything small. I wanted it to be long lasting and show people in the future how I was as a scout and a person," Pingree said.
The historic bread oven fulfills a long-held vision for the village's youth programs.
"It's really, really exciting for us," said Alex Konieczny, Troy's Historic Village youth program director. "I've had this vision of having a bread oven for baking bread and things like that."
Pingree began construction in July and spent four months building the oven from the ground up. His father, Dan Pingree, supported him throughout the project, continuing a family tradition of Eagle Scouts.
"I was a Boy Scout and Eagle Scout. My father was an Eagle Scout, and my grandfather was an Eagle Scout," Dan Pingree said.
The $1,300 project was funded through donations from family and friends. On Saturday, the oven was fired for the first time during a bread baking class at the village.
Jeff Pavlik, a historian and bread baking instructor dressed in 1830s-style clothing, taught participants using authentic period recipes.
"They're going to get their hands involved in history. They'll get to see how the yeast was made and how the yeast was utilized, the process and the techniques," Pavlik said.
Pavlik, also an Eagle Scout, helped with the oven project that will significantly support the village's operations.
"Being able to do programs like this, this is how we operate, this is how we stay open and serve the community and it lets us keep doing more and more cool stuff," Konieczny said.
Pingree hopes to complete his Eagle Scout Board of Review by the end of the year.
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