He started in a one room school in San Gregorio. His mom died when he was young; she was 40. His mom and dad had dairy farm down the coast. Silvio Medina was his best buddy since the third grade. Silvio made the beautiful bell at City Hall.  On 6/14/63 John was in the first graduating class from HMB HS. The next day a recruiter came to San Gregorio, and Silvio and John were off to Viet Nam. 

In 1966 he was the White Hat of the Year in the Navy and Za Za Gabor gave him the award. His other claim to fame was that he was on the Bob Barker Show and wound up with two six foot tall dates to the Moulin Rouge. He married a flower growers daughter and she pushed him to apply to a private foundation to obtain a college education. He applied to the Agricultural Education Foundation where they select students to attend four different universities.  He had the privilege to go on and get involved with the foundation  he then went on to get involved with local politics and eventually National politics. He’s also been able to go to Washington D.C. every four years with the flower industry. AS he said, "He’s been in the White House and the outhouse." He was invited to visit the Supreme Court and met Justice Scalia. 

He is still on the Coastside Water District Board (don’t give him heck for the increase). He shared many other stories of people he’s met and experiences he’s had along the way. In June the Agriculture Foundation selected three graduates, John graduated in 1978, class eight. In June they accepted class fifty-four. All privately donated funds, millions of dollars. He was awarded a Lifetime Leadership award. 

Q. What’s next?  A. The inauguration is coming up, has helped with Inaugurations for both dems and GOP. He is training two young women to take over part of the farm, and he also gave part of the farm to another worker. He’s currently helping out by driving truck for Lea Farms while the normal driver out due to an injury. 

Q. How did you meet your wife Eda and how did you convince her to marry you? A. His dad knew Eda’s father. They were invited to Eda’s family home for Christmas and he wound up working for her dad. 

Q. How did you get your job at the airport? A. I met a guy on a plane, chatted for a bit and he took my name and number.  I got a call from the FBI shortly after, “Would you like to be in the FBI Citizens Academy and serve as a role player at the airport for Homeland Security?”  His adventures there included seeing the Bomb Dog go for a muffin, got taken into custody by SF Police, but not arrested—Homeland Security apologized to him for that snafu. He has also done National Night Out volunteering. 

Q. What is the future of agriculture/horticulture on the coast?  A.  Great question, John Gusti has two sons doing a great job, and David Lea has daughters and one son-in-law who doesn’t like dirt so he’s not going to be a farmer. David has a partner now, a Cal Poly graduate, so he has a transition plan. Rocket Farms will continue he thinks, and there are more organic farmers. Our growth is concerning, not sure we have the infrastructure for it. On the Water District Board we’re very concerned about water for the future; and, let’s call it affordable not farm worker housing. His property line borders the mushroom farm, he heard the shots. 

Q .  Do you have any Dolores Mullen stories?  A. She was the Godmother, a title she earned.  Regarding Japanese farmers—his dad hosted first Japanese exchange student after the war. 

Q.  When I started the Chamber, there were 5,000 rose growers years ago. Now that NAFTA has been repealed, is there any chance of the flower growing business coming back?  A.  I’m sorry to say, it’s impossible. Building greenhouse structures is a challenge for everybody.  Encouraging youth to stay in agriculture is challenging, but you never know, my granddaughter is at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. I tell her, come back and start the farm all over again.

Q.  Do you think we should be doing something different with almonds because they use so much water?  A.  A good point, all my almond and walnut growing friends are pulling out a lot of trees. They don’t use as much as we think, but they’re cutting back. With the new administration, I thing the CA water system may change. 

(Editor's Note  Of additional interest on YouTube you can find a great video and story about with both John and father-in-law Al Adreveno featured for their recognition as 2023 Veterans of the Year. "Al Adreveno, who this year celebrated his 100th birthday, is a World War II veteran who served in the Army Corps of Engineers. During his service, he was part of an elite team in the Philippines and the invasion of Okinawa. Upon his return home, Al became involved in the flower-growing business and the owner of Daylight Farms, and a stalwart member of the Half Moon Bay community for over 70 years, serving on the City Council and as mayor, the Coastside County Water District, the County Farm Bureau, the Half Moon Bay Chamber of Commerce and more. In summary, Al provided countless contributions to his beloved community.

John Muller, who is Al Adreveno’s son-in-law, is a Vietnam veteran who served in the U.S. Navy. In fact, John was also trained for emergency pickup of the 1965 Gemini Capsule. Known as “Farmer John” in the coastside community and beyond, and owner of Daylight Farms including the Highway 1 pumpkin patch. Farmer John served on many boards and commissions, including the USDA Farm Service Agency, working to keep the diversity of California agriculture ever-present to those in Washington D.C. Farmer John also served on the Half Moon Bay City Council and was a two-term mayor. He has been involved in many community activities, including the K9 Companions Service Dog program, the July 4th parades, the Pumpkin Festival, and the Farmers Sharing Program providing donations of vegetables and flower seeds to library cardholders. And Farmer John always gives back time and energy to veteran causes.")

Thank you Farmer John!  Pres. Irwin gave him a certificate showing that a number of children will be vaccinated against Polio in his name.

Noting that he was “really excited” to be here today, Schulze said he’d been with the organization for about 19 months, and is working to bring the medical center back to what it had been here. When word spread in his workplace that he was coming to Rotary to speak, many there wanted to come along and talk too – including Emergency Services (Nursing)  Director Jacqueline Maturan and Seton Community Board Vice Chair Fred Naranjo who had donated a lot to this community to help with food insecurity (a big challenge here, he said) and Dr. Edmund Toye who is a general surgeon.

Schulze had learned about Rotary a couple months ago at a regional meeting to discuss what the next big project would look like. He learned that Rotary and District 5150 wanted to improve mental health in this country and the world; he had met Rotarians and learned of Rotary’s role in polio eradication. He has family members in Rotary in Taipei (district 3481) who met their significant others through Rotary. 

He said he is not here to tell us how to fix health care but to share some facts about it. He noted that this is the only developed country where health care is not a (constitutional) right.  But the U.S. is a health insurance marketplace. Here, you buy health insurance, and your health insurance company has a network of doctors, hospitals and ancillary providers they contract with. He invited us all to engage in the discussion too, since he wanted to learn more about passions with health care in San Mateo County.

He listed some numbers: the number of Americans age 65 and up is expected to increase from 58 million in 2022 to 82 million in 2050. When Medicare started in the 1960s, it was only designed to provide coverage for 5 years (i.e. age 65 to 70) and people are now living beyond the average age of 100.  There are longevity conferences around the world focusing on how to live to be over 100? 

The U.S. population now is older that it has ever been, so we have to have infrastructure in place to support the care that will be needed. We know that the majority of health care in this country – about 80 percent of health care -- is used by people 65 and older. We need to educate the population to use health care more when they are younger versus when they reach 65 and up. Between 1980 and 1922, the median age increased from 30 years of age to 38.9 years of age; we are seeing many states with populations getting older. Maine, for example, has a median age of almost 45; New Hampshire’s median age is 43.3.

We also are seeing obesity increase among Americans, to about 40 percent. And there is also a rising demand for elder care, especially among individuals of lower income and those with dementia; that number is doubling from about 6 million to 13 million. 

Schulze said he is bringing this up because, as we start getting older as a population, we have to make sure we have the infrastructure to care for these individuals, make sure they are healthier, visit their doctors when they are younger -- you can’t wait till you are 65 to begin going to your doctor. There are many things we can do to keep our population healthy. 

One item he wanted to add, is food insecurity. In 2022, about 9.1 percent of people 65 and older have food insecurity – they may not know where the next meal is coming from, or if they’re going to have dinner.

Stacy asked for clarification: What exactly do you mean by “food insecurity”? Answer: Not being able to afford healthy food, not fast food. We’re talking about a good serving of fruit, vegetables, meat, proteins. 

California recently passed a law saying that, for hospitals, if you have excess and unexpired food, you have to work with a local food bank to donate it. Sometimes food in hospitals or cafeterias doesn’t get used; work is ongoing with food banks to donate it. When we’re looking to solve issues with health care, this is something we need to focus on. 

Longevity: He mentioned that the number of individuals living past 100 is growing, in the 1950s, 1990s, 2000s. Currently we’re at about 101,000 centenarians, a number expected to grow by 2054 to about 422,000 individuals living past age 100. 

Globally, we’re seeing about 722,000 centenarians, a number expected to grow to 4 million. You’re talking about the infrastructure to support the longer time that people are living. 

Senior housing is very, very problematic, especially in San Mateo County.  There is not enough senior housing available, to support individuals living longer. By 2030, we’re expected to have a shortage of 550,000 senior housing units. What’s needed is about $275 billion invested to improve that shortfall. And it’s not just seniors; we know the shortage of housing in the state, which is why property values are so high. Supply and demand. But especially the senior community; there’s not enough assisted living facilities to support the growing need. Facilities here are at 90-95 percent capacity, with wait lists. There is a shortage of independent living facilities as well. And it’s not cheap; the going rate for a shared room is about $8,000, and for your own room, about $12,000 a month. That’s insane, Schulze said; “We really need to figure out how to improve senior housing, especially in this community.”

Sandra Winter, Executive Director of Senior Coastsiders, welcome us and thanked us for prior contributions. Note the special dessert—a Canadian dessert bar (Naimo Bar?)/The meal we were served is very typical of the daily lunches provided by Senior Coastsiders kitchen. The kitchen serves up to 350 people each month. It is restaurant quality food. There is also a meal delivery service,; meals are provided to Puente to deliver on south coast; and they provide meals to CADHC.

Two other organizations use the kitchen—Table of Plenty and No Strings Attached Breakfast. At this time 27-28% of Coastsiders are seniors. The 85 and older group is the fastest growing segment. The organization meets the needs of a diverse age range from 55 and older (up to 100). Seniors generally make up 18% in other areas. 

Other offerings include transportation, a new van was acquired last year. Classes include creative writing, art, crafts, grief support, Parkinson’s support. The mission is to support successful aging. This support takes into account where someone is and where they want to go.  There are 13 on staff and 250-300 volunteers. Many volunteers are older adults. There is a full time care manager and the organization is looking for an additional one.  The van takes people shopping, to social events, etc. 

Programs at Senior Coastsiders are age dependent. The housing on this campus  is provided by three non-profits, and there are about 400 residents. There are many Chinese seniors, so Senior Coastsiders hired a native Chinese speaker to help them learn English. The van also takes them into SF to shop.  CERT training is also available. Senior Coastsiders also provides computer training and had a program to give out 75 tablets along with training. They work with AARP to provide tax services. There is a free assistive device program—the biggest challenge with that program is storage. The minor home repair program focuses on safety and functionality and includes Home Rehab Day. The Pet Buddy program provides volunteers and limited financial support. 

Q. Do you help with insurance? A. Yes, we engage HiCap to help people to sign up for Medicare. You could have them speak to your group after November. 

Q. In Bodega Bay the fire department would change alarm batteries. A. We could do that for you. 

Q. Why so many Chinese residents?  A. I’m not sure why, but there is a waitlist. It is a county-wide list, an applicant has to take what is available.

Q. Does a homeless person get priority. A. That is up to the housing non-profits who manage the housing. 

Q. Do you provide mental health services? A. Not currently,  but the new hire may. 

Q. Where does your funding come from?  A. From grants, donations and other. Our budget is 1.5 million. 

Q. A. Do you serve meals 7 days a week? A. We serve 5 days a week and a frozen meal if needed. 

Q. Do you charge for the meals? A. We allow people to contribute. About a quarter of meal recipients contribute. 

Q. How does Senior Coastsiders differ from Village of the Coastside and Coastside Adult Day Health Center. A. CADHC provides medical services; we don’t provide medical services; we support more active seniors. Village of the Coastside is a focused on social outings,. You pay for those events.  They also have a volunteer driver program and have workshops. It is a membership driven organization. 

Q. Has the new Senior housing increased the number of participants?  A. We’re not sure that is the case. HMB is a nice place to retire to. HMB also participates in the Age Friendly program and Senior Coastsiders supports the program.

Q. What can groups such as Rotary do to help?  A. We are always looking for volunteers, grants are helpful, participation in special events like the Pumpkin Run and telling people about our services.