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Immigrant fulfilled dream in Safety Harbor

Her C&C restaurant became a cultural hub for the Caribbean community in the 1990s.

By NICOLE HUTCHESON, Times Staff Writer
Published October 19, 2007

CLEARWATER - To newly arrived Jamaican implants, she was a culinary savior.

For more than 40 years, Clara Cushnie whipped up curried goat, oxtails, jerk pork and other island favorites daily in the confines of her C&C restaurant in Safety Harbor.

Cushnie, known as "Miss Clara," died Monday after suffering a stroke, a swift end to a fully lived vibrant life. She was 86.

"She would tell you quick that she did everything she wanted to do in life," said Winston Cushnie, Miss Clara's son. "She traveled to France, Hawaii and England."

In 1955, Clara Cushnie packed her bags and moved from Kingston, Jamaica, to Clearwater with dreams of starting her own business. Opportunity was her motivation. It's what prompted her to leave her native Camaguey, Cuba, as a young girl.

"She always wanted to have her own business," said Winston Cushnie, 45. "Her father ran a butcher shop, so he sold food and cooked, and she wanted that."

But through the years, the Elm Street eatery evolved from a place to find good eats to a community hub of sorts, attracting the bumper crop of Caribbean implants who began relocating to the Tampa Bay area in the early 1990s.

The American West Indian Organization often used the restaurant as a meeting spot. For a while, a Jamaican herb shop operated on Main Street in Safety Harbor, not far from Miss Clara's.

Ultimately, the restaurant attracted the man who would become Cushnie's husband. She met Ephraim Cushnie, a Jamaican native, when he came into the restaurant. The couple had four children.

In 1997, Clara Cushnie had a challenging year. She had knee replacement surgery, and her husband died.

She bounced back and remained active and involved with her family. Cushnie and her children decided to sell the restaurant in 2000, but Cushnie kept her passion for cooking.

Thanksgiving was always her favorite time of the year - Christmas couldn't compare.

"She would always say, 'If you want to buy something for a person, don't wait until the 25th to buy it,'" said Winston Cushnie. "But Thanksgiving was a big day for her. She liked for everybody to get together."

Nicole Hutcheson can be reached at nhutcheson.com.

BIOGRAPHY

Clara Cushnie

Born: Dec. 20, 1920.

Died: Monday, Oct. 15, 2007.

Survivors: sons, Noygel, Errol, Winston; daughter, Elean; daughters-in-law, Dorothy, Sharon; sister, Josephine; brother, Kenneth; 8 grandchildren; 3 great-grandchildren.

Services: 11 a.m. Saturday at Christ Temple Church, 1304 North Martin Luther King Blvd., Clearwater. Visitation today from 6 to 8 p.m.

[Last modified October 19, 2007, 01:52:06]