(From the Findlay-Hancock County Public Library)

Gaining Ground: A Story of Farmer’s Markets, Local Food, and Saving the Family Farm by Forrest Pritchard has been chosen as the featured title for the Findlay-Hancock County Public Library’s 2025 CommunityREAD.

The selection is a New York Times bestselling memoir. One fateful day in 1996, after discovering that five freight cars’ worth of glittering corn have reaped a tiny profit of $18.16, young Forrest Pritchard vows to save his family’s farm. What ensues—through hilarious encounters with all manner of livestock and colorful local characters—is a crash course in sustainable agriculture. Pritchard’s biggest ally is his renegade father, who initially questions his son’s career choice and rejects organic foods for sugary mainstream fare. But just when the farm starts to turn heads at local farmers’ markets, his father’s health takes a turn for the worse. With poetry and humor, this inspiring memoir tugs on your heartstrings and feeds your soul long after you’ve finished.

The author will visit Hancock County on Thursday, March 20 during CommunityREAD month for a public presentation at 7:30 PM at the Marathon Center for the Performing Arts. Please visit findlaylibrary.org/commrd for more information.

CommunityREAD is a month-long community event that encourages reading and promotes the benefits of literacy. Originally created by the Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation in 2003, the administration of CommunityREAD was assumed by the Findlay-Hancock County Public Library in 2012. Each year, a different book is chosen and read by community members during the month of March. Various events and programs are planned throughout the month at the library.