Ken and Kris Bilderback moved to the Laurelwood area of Gaston in 2004, mere days before the Seventh-day Adventists celebrated the centennial of their arrival in the area. Ken grew up near Detroit, Michigan, and graduated from the University of Dayton. He spent 30 years as a journalist at newspapers across the country.
His novel, “Wheels on the Bus,” chronicles the wild cross-country trips that eventually landed him in Oregon, which has been his home since 1980. Ken also served several stints at the Freedom Forum Media Studies Center at Columbia University and the University of California. Kris graduated from the University of Washington and spent her career in administration at the UW, Bastyr University and at Pacific University. She spent countless hours researching newspaper and library archives in search of stories for this book.
The authors’ move to Laurelwood in the middle of the community’s centennial was purely coincidental, as is this book’s proximity to the city of Gaston’s centennial in 2014. Yet another local centennial is on the horizon as well: 2013 marks 100 years of service by the Gaston Volunteer Fire Department. Ken is writing a book about that centennial as a fundraiser for the department.
