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.
Pledge of Allegiance - Farmer John Muller
His father was working at PPG as a plant manager, and he was putting together some financing to start a new company. His dad wanted Clark to come back and work with him so he went from designing scenery to designing controls for explosive atmospheres. At this point his wife left and he became a single parent of a five year old (Kate) and her three-year-old brother. He had substantial support from his family during this time. After a year, they decided to relocate the company, and he spent the next year traveling around the country looking for locations. They wound up choosing North Charleston, NC, and opened a plant. Note, North Charleston is not part of Charleston. North Charleston was like the Wild West . Since 80% of the revenue was from one customer, the venture was doomed from the start.
At that point he was in adult education courses. He saw a billboard advertising H & R Block’s income tax course. He always done his own and the company’s tax returns decided to take the H & R Block course and stayed with them for 25 years. Block’s operation changed very dramatically. When he started, the mission was to serve the needs of their clients and it had become a process of serving the whims of corporate management. He left and worked with a CPA office for a year. He had a fall, went through a series of rehab facilities and Kate brought him to HMB to live with her.
Charise won but pulled a green marble.