By Stephanie Prokop, Staff Writer
BORDENTOWN CITY — College student Clifford Jeremy Hartin has a lot of reasons to be thankful — 32 reasons to be exact.
On Friday night at the Park Street Café, located on Park Street in the city, Mr. Hartin coolly flashed his pearly whites to customers who came in to partake in the benefit, titled Give Thanks, that helped him attain such a perfect smile.
Mr. Hartin, 18, who graduated a semester early from Bordentown Regional High School and works at the café as a server, had been suffering from jaw deterioration and tooth pain for some time.
Since his mom had died when he was 8, and his dad had just gone through a leg-amputation surgery, resources were tight.
Because Mr. Hartin did not have any dental insurance, he decided to take matters into his own hands — by taking a pair of pliers to the infected tooth.
Jeff Szur, the Park Street Café proprietor, said that one day in January he came in to work to see Mr. Hartin’s mouth swollen. When he learned what pain Mr. Hartin was in “we knew we had to help him any way that we could.”
And when he learned how his employee had decided to get a grip on his pain, Mr. Szur and fellow Park Street Café proprietor Molly O’Dowd sent him to the Lyons Family Dentistry at 806 Farnsworth Ave.
To eliminate infection and relieve his pain, Mr. Hartin would need several teeth extracted, leaving him with a collapsed, nonfunctional bite. After many tests, a treatment plan was proposed that would restore and maintain Mr. Hartin’s dental health, which would include surgical extractions, root canals, buildups, porcelain crowns and bridges, fillings and hygiene appointments.
The only difficulty was that Mr. Hartin, who worked as much as he could while attending college, did not have the money for such extensive dental work.
An agreement was then struck between Dr. Lyons and Mr. Szur and Ms. O’Dowd that the Park Street Café would raise about $5,000 to cover laboratory costs. The remaining cost of the procedure —estimated at nearly four times the amount of the laboratory costs — was donated by the doctors and staff of Lyons Family Dentistry.
To date, the café has contributed and raised close to $3,000 with a remaining balance of $2,400.
Mr. Szur said that because Thanksgiving is right around the corner, the name of the fundraiser only seemed appropriate. Customers would come in, and there would be a prepared menu featuring a choice of three entrées, which was $40. Diners would start off with a spring salad mix with dinner rolls, and continue on to the entrée, one of which was a Cornish game hen served with cranberry apple stuffing and a Dijon sauce. For dessert, there was a choice of pumpkin pie, chocolate cake, or a brownie and ice cream.
One hundred percent of the proceeds generated went right to the cost of the cause, and International Produce donated all of the food that was on the menu. Employees agreed to work for free, and any tips generated went straight to the cause as well.
In addition to the dinner, there is a raffle this week with prizes donated from other businesses around the city. Lenox figurines, Yankee Candles and gift certificates are available and will be raffled off at the Park Street Café on Friday, Nov. 23, at 2 p.m.
Mr. Hartin said that he is overwhelmingly thankful for all of the help that the community has given him over the last 10 months.
Even though Mr. Hartin really enjoys his job at the Park Street Café, he said he has his sights set on someday attending West Point to major in genetics.
For now though, he is grateful for the regular customers who come in and support him while sharing stories, news and gossip.
”It really shows how good people can be,” he said while getting up to greet more customers with his new rehabilitated smile.

