Lydia’s Café doesn’t host many political events. They specialize in jazz shows and seafood gumbo. But owners Roni and Mark Usvolk felt strongly about this election, and energized by the Democratic National Convention so, despite some jitters, they held their second ever political fundraiser.

They earmarked last Sunday, Aug. 25 for a large indoor-outdoor event including 25 volunteer musicians, a live painting, and free beer and wine to drum up money to support the Democrat ticket.

“My wife made, like, 100 pounds of barbecue,” Mark explained. “It was a big party, basically, in celebration of the Democratic candidacy.”

They worried about the possibility of a “vindictive” reception to the event, especially because Lydia’s, which is only open on weekends, shares space with a completely unrelated business. In the run-up to the event, they prepared for some blowback by interacting online with people discussing boycotting the café, and even making a plan to deal with any protesters, who “would have been welcomed on stage” to speak their minds.

“You know, from the beginning, I was really, really cautious about trying to be inclusive of everyone,” Mark said. They expected opposition but tried to communicate that they were not interested in sowing division, and just wanted be allowed “the courtesy of expressing our political beliefs.”

When the day came, Mark and Roni were thrilled with the turnout and the results. About 200 people showed up to raise around $10,000 for various Democratic causes and campaigns. Nobody protested, nobody fought. “It was really joyous, and everybody was talking and sharing stuff.”

“It was great, man,” Mark said. “Everybody was really glad to meet other people in the community, like-minded people, and a lot of friendships were forged.”

What Mark didn’t know was that patrons arriving for the event were finding a nasty surprise on the side of the road. He was talking with some of the volunteer musicians when “a woman came up to me and said, ‘I don't want to ruin your day, but somebody threw a bunch of nails out on the street.’”

Before the 4 p.m. start time, someone had laid a carpet of 1 1/4-inch roofing nails at the parking area on the southern side of Old US Highway 209. The state police were contacted, but the people arriving to park started clearing up the mess immediately.

Alex Kahana arrived early to the fundraiser. He saw nails “on both sides of the road over about a hundred-foot stretch.” He said a woman parked her car across the road to block it and keep people from driving onto the nails.

Mark said he didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. By the time he was outside, volunteers were already cleaning it up. “Unless there’s an incident,” he says, “I don’t want to escalate it.”

Those on the scene said that more nails to the road appeared later, closer to 6 p.m. This was a little farther down the road where Old Highway 209 meets the current Route 209, and, in this case, a different kind of roofing nail was used. These nails had a red head and a habit of landing on their base, with the point sticking straight up.

Mark says he couldn’t help but think of Lydia’s only other political fundraiser. It was for a local Republican candidate. “Incidentally, we didn't get any calls to boycott a business, nor did anyone scatter nails in front of the street where we park.”

Two troopers and an investigator came over to interview witnesses and look at the scene. There wasn’t much they could do, but one of the troopers asked Mark for a broom and dustpan and joined in to sweep up the nails.

There was one injury when Stephanie Labodin, attending with her 9- and 12-year children, stepped on a nail. It went through her sandal and deep into her foot, drawing blood.

Labodin lamented that anyone would lower themselves to such behavior. “With society how it is, I’m not surprised. This is the way it is.”

A bucket’s worth of nails were collected, and no tires were punctured. Mark jokes that he wished he had thought to auction them off.

Despite the incident, Mark says he has no regrets about the event. “I mean, we're so glad we did it.” He was impressed by the thoughtful volunteer cleanup and wondered aloud if maybe “there's a good lesson” somewhere in what happened. For him, the lesson is simple: “Don’t succumb to intimidation.”

“I mean, that's a tactic that I don't want to see work.”

No statement or comment has yet been received from the state police.