John Will Cary is called Morgan Hill’s ‘Leaf Blower,’ many
downtown business owners have offered him friendship and hope
Morgan Hill – John Will Cary, 49, shows all the signs of a man living on the fringe. In many ways, he is, earning just $300 a month from his homespun street cleaning services, bartering for meals and even for his rent.
He lives alone, in a 19-foot trailer next to the Granary on Depot Street. All of his family ties are broken, except for an older brother in Washington state, who’s hospitalized with liver problems.
But many people who shop and work downtown know Cary as the town’s “leaf blower.” He started sweeping sidewalks on Monterey Road eight years ago. One job led to another, and today he can be spotted on most weekday mornings, wearing his gasoline powered leaf blower and a pair of protective ear muffs.
“I just wanted to give something back to the community,” he said. “For my whole life I was a taker.”
His positive energy burns brightly on the sidewalks he keeps clean. He has an easy smile for everyone. People who’ve come to know him return the gesture. He has an old-fashioned charm to him. If he wore a hat, he’d tip it. He’d always say “Good day.”
His appearance might be a bit dubious. He’s frail but solidly built, with strong calloused hands with which he’s labored for years. He smells of tobacco. His face is also lined with character, colorful and dark, reflecting on a checkered past of hardships he’s overcome.
He started abusing alcohol at age 8, in his hometown of Des Moines, Wash., a suburb of Seattle. He’s been clean and sober for 10 years now, he says, and part of his 12-step Alcoholics Anonymous recovery has been to find a way to help the community. So, he keeps the streets clean and volunteers at the Taste of Morgan Hill and Fourth of July parade. He’s found a town where he feels redeemed and free and – most of all – needed.
“It feels like I’m back in the old Midwest, where everybody knows everybody, everybody cares about everybody, and everybody treats everybody accordingly,” he said. “If one person’s hurt, everybody’s trying to do everything they can to try to help him out. And that’s the way it ought to be.”
Cary found Morgan Hill 12 years ago, on a three-day hitchhiking trip from Washington. He made it to Bernal Road in San Jose, where he started walking south on the Monterey Highway.
At that point, Cary said he hadn’t touched a drink in five years, but needed a change of scenery. It didn’t help. In August 1996, he fell off the wagon. After four hours of “drinking misery” in a local bar, he hopped on his 10-speed bike to ride back to San Martin, where he had been living. On the way, he was hit by a hit-and-run driver by what’s now the San Martin Valero gas station on Monterey Road. He split his head open, saw stars and wound up with a purple, green-and-gray shiner half the size of his face. After an air rescue and two days in the hospital, he was confronted with a $12,000-plus medical bill. It was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
“I’ve had a lot of near life and death experiences in my past,” Cary said. “How many chances is God going to give you before you wake up? Sooner or later, He’s going to say, ‘Maybe you need to learn your lesson the hard way. Maybe it’s time for you to come Home.’ ”
Since then, Cary’s stuck to the straight and narrow path. “I ran the fun out of drinking,” he said. He’s attended support groups and worked various landscaping, warehouse and construction jobs. His most steady job was at the Mercury News, from 2001 to June 2006, where he inserted advertising into the newspapers. Lacking a car, he rode his bike 28 miles to get to work. After rising to a salary of $18.33 per hour, he said he was laid off six months ago.
Those who know Cary’s story say it reflects what Morgan Hill’s downtown has always been about.
“Clearly he’s had a few issues in the past, and he’s trying to move past those,” said Leslie Miles, who owns Weston Miles Architects, Inc. with her husband Charles Weston.
Since 2003, Miles and Weston have let Cary park his motor home on their land, next to their offices at the Granary on Depot Street. In return, Cary acts as a night watchman.
“I think the amazing thing is the downtown has embraced him,” Miles said. “Everyone thinks about him and cares about him.”
BookSmart owner Brad Jones bought Cary his first leaf blower and pays him for landscaping services around his store, which recently moved from Monterey Road to the shopping center near Depot and Second streets.
“He’s the man who helps keep our downtown clean,” Jones said. “He’s always very cheerful.”
Cary said the openness of people in Morgan Hill has helped him steer clear of past demons.
“This town has given me something I would never-ever want to give up,” Cary said. “The people in this town are truly phenomenal.”
But with the city’s downtown poised to grow, and with Miles and Weston planning a mixed-use residential and commercial project where Cary’s trailer sits, the status quo may have to change.
“I think it’s going to be a challenge as the downtown evolves,” Miles said. “It’s going to be harder for John to find his place.”
Cary said he wants to find another steady job that could help him pay rent. For now, he’s glad to have the respect of Jones and Miles and many others who see him making a difference downtown.
“It not about getting noticed or anything else,” Cary said. “It was about my way of doing something right for a change.”
Tony Burchyns covers Morgan Hill for The Times. Reach him at (408) 779-4106 ext. 201 or tburchyns@morganhilltimes.
