About
Creating theater experiences that entertain, educate, and enlighten our community
Our Founders
Linda Baker was the performing arts teacher at McNary High School here in Keizer for 15 years and was the creative force behind 40 theatrical productions.
Evan Christopher is a performing arts graduate of McNary and Western Oregon University. He has directed productions in Portland, Monmouth and Keizer.

Meet the Board
Insert an introductory sentence here.
Linda Baker
Position
Linda Baker graduated from California State University at Long Beach, where she earned both a BA and MA in Theater and Education. She taught theater for 30 years from grades 7 to community college and headed the McNary High School Theater Arts program for 16 years. Linda won both the Crystal Apple Award for excellence in education and the Keizer Service to Education Award. In 2012, she founded Keizer Homegrown Theatre. In the community, Linda has been involved in the Salem Art Association, Rotary Club, Chamber of Commerce, Distinguished Young Women of Keizer Program and the Salem Theatre Network. A vital member of the regional arts community, Linda continues to lead and inspire excellence in theatre programs throughout the Willamette Valley.
Bob Busch
Position
Bob Busch graduated from Grants Pass High School in 1974 and continued his education at OSU the following fall. He earned two BS degrees; one in Business Administration and the other in Business Education. Since graduating, he has worked many different jobs, mainly in the medical and retail fields. Most notable are the 25+ years spent as a volunteer firefighter/EMT with Keizer Fire District. While serving there, he was named the EMT of the Year for 2000. He retired due to health issues in early 2019. His primary duties with KHT are to attend Keizer Chamber of Commerce events, publicize productions, and to head up the volunteer program.
Jeremy Clubb
Position
Jeremy Clubb is another Keizer and McNary native. He has been working with Linda since he was a freshman in high school. Twenty of the twenty-five years he has worked in theatre have been spent with Linda. In that time, he has done it all: Lighting, sound, props, acting, set design, and building, and he directed Dog House the Musical. However, his true talent is finding talented people and bringing them into the fold. He values that Keizer Homegrown strives to be accessible to the members of the community who want to do theater but have families and other responsibilities. He appreciates that KHT tries to optimize the volunteer time so that people still get to do what they love and create art, without it detracting from day-to-day life.
Sam Goesch
Position
Sam Goesch has deep roots in the Keizer, Oregon community. After graduating from McNary High School and earning a B.S. in Business from Oregon State University, he returned to the area as a State Farm insurance agent since 1981. Sam has always been actively involved in the community, serving in the Boy Scouts and coaching basketball and baseball. Occasionally, you will see him playing the string bass in the pit orchestra. He participated in the Keizer Planning Commission, the Salem Schools Foundation Board, and served as president of the Little League and Chamber of Commerce.
Mike Jaffe
Position
Jennifer Johnson
Position
Matt Lawyer
Position
Jeff Minden
Position
Jeff Minden graduated from McNary High School in 1999. In 2004 he graduated from Southern Oregon University. He is probably most recognized for his performances on the KHT stage as Joe Pendleton in Heaven Can Wait, Henry Bingham in The Fox on the Fairway, and Brent Reynolds in Drop Dead. He is also well known as the Director of KHT shows like The Hitchhiker/Sorry Wrong Number and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Jeff runs the KHT social media and the box office software.
Becky Nielson
Position
Becky Nielson’s passion for theatre began while watching McNary’s Brigadoon rehearsals when she was in 8th grade. While in high school, Becky became interested in business. She began working in bookkeeping and tax preparation at 15 years old. After living in Wyoming and Delaware for a couple of years, she finally came home to Keizer in 2013. She joined the ranks at KHT in 2016 where she’s been on stage, backstage, and in-house. She is married to Lars and has three children.
Laura Reid
Position
Loriann Schmidt
Position
Lyndon Zaitz
Position