‘Squeezebox Johnny’

It was last Friday afternoon outside Apple Granny.

Mostly like every other Friday afternoon but for Johnny Squeezebox and his faithful sidekick and spouse Michaeline busking for tips in front of Apple Granny.

John Quinn is 91. The Olin retiree has many memories of Buffalo and Niagara Falls that have slipped away.

For example, on his table rests a scrapbook featuring the Great Gorge Railway. The railway ran from just below the Falls to Lewiston. It was in place from 1885 to 1935.

Portions of the railbed remain along the river, including bits of the viewing platform once visited by President’s McKinley and Teddy Roosevelt.

Quinn also proudly displays a photo of Jimmy Slattery, a sometimes forgotten light heavyweight boxer and member of the Boxing Hall of Fame who lived from 1904 to 1960 and retired with a 111-13 record with 49 knockouts.

John recognized my Italian Heritage and told me he learned to play accordion from a Paisan. Then he broke into song about Italians on the railroad, the sort of tune that, with no one playing it but Johnny, might one day be lost.

Quinn, when he is playing, sells a book he wrote, “The Mighty Quinn”. I tossed him a sawbuck and he signed my copy. It is filled with poems and stories, interesting but sometimes politically incorrect.

The first thing to notice is John, as much as he loves the Falls is a child of Portageville. He and his beau split time between there and Wheatfield.

Quinn is descended from ancestors who built the Genesee Valley Canal on the east side of Letchworth State Park.

You could learn more but you’d have to stop outside Apple Granny on a Friday afternoon.