The owner of Element 41 on Chardon Square has faced backlash. Doesn't regret his decision.
The owner of Element 41 on Chardon Square has long had Pride in his restaurant.
So his decision to raise money for a local church with a private, drag show-themed brunch came easily.
The day after dozens of harassing messages — phone calls, emails, social media posts — he just as easily added a second brunch.
“Someone said they hope my business burns down,” said Paul Mendolera, who will host the events April 1 with the Community Church of Chesterland (CCC). “In that same breath, ‘I can’t wait to see the restaurant (that comes in) after you fail.’ ”
Mendolera has been called a “disgusting pedophile,” a “groomer.” Some people say they will protest — and bring their concealed carry permits. Crank callers call staff derogatory names.
One caller from a private number placed a large takeout order and never picked up. Now the restaurant has changed its policy: all to-go orders must be pre-paid.
At $20 a ticket, both April 1 adult-only brunches sold out in 36 hours, said Megan Carver, the CCC’s Social Justice co-chair and event organizer.
A separate Drag Story Hour event at the church from 4 to 5 p.m. will include performers reading storybooks and singing and dancing. “Think preschool,” Carver said.
The CCC, a United Church of Christ congregation, is not new to the attention. It has supported LGBTQ+ rights for 30 years.
“We are a church of extravagant welcome, inclusion and justice,” reads its website. “CCC has been at the forefront of women’s rights and inclusion for the majority of its history. All are included and represented in our worship and in our community.”
To Mendolera, the Pride cause is important because it affects him personally.
“It’s my daughter. It’s people that I know and love,” he said. “It’s our staff, our customers. We’re all involved in some way in this community.”
In June, officially Pride month, the restaurant decorated its front window with rainbows and flew rainbow flags throughout.
“We did get backlash from it, and that’s when I started taking it personally,” Mendolera said.
On social media, there has been support for the drag show brunches and there has been criticism. Comments on Facebook often end in personal attacks from one poster to another.
Carver is a fourth generation member of her church. She says the negative attention is hurtful.
“It’s sad to see people exert such judgment on something that they really don’t have much information about,” she said. “It’s a misunderstanding about what drag is, and a misunderstanding about what our purpose is. I’m saddened, but I hope to soften hearts.”
For its beliefs, the CCC has also dealt with vandalism. In the summer of 2021, the church said a rainbow flag that flew for a few days or months at the corner of Wilson Mills and Caves Roads had been stolen 27 times, according to a police report.
It has now been stolen more than 100 times, Carver says.
Despite the continued theft, the flag was replaced because of the importance of what it symbolizes, church members said at the time.
In June of 2022, a private Pride event at Century Village just off of Burton Square drew opposition during a village council meeting, but no issues were reported during the event itself.
That same month, a Pride event on Chardon Square, organized by Geauga Pride, was opposed in a letter signed by 18 churches. That event drew about 600 people and did not have any issues reported either.
Still, security issues are taken seriously.
A similar event in Wadsworth on March 11 drew hundreds of protestors to a park and ended in two arrests, according to cleveland.com. Authorities said the protestors included white supremacists, neo-nazis and Proud Boys, the article reported.
Chester Township Police Chief Craig Young said police will meet with the church and assess their needs to help keep its Story Hour event peaceful.
“Obviously it is a concern,” Young said. “What can we do to make this event run smoothly? How can we ensure it’s done safely? You always have to err on the side caution.”
So far, Young said there have been no calls to complain, and he has no knowledge of any planned protest.
Of the April 1 events, CCC Pastor Jesse Peacock wrote on Facebook: “I would like to invite Ohio religious leaders to be present as well. What I am looking for are folks who are willing to come and stand in solidarity with us and to provide a calming presence.”
Element 41, which typically opens Saturdays at 11 a.m., will reopen to the public after the brunches with dinner starting at 4 p.m.
For every customer Mendolera loses, he said he remembers the calls he gets from supporters, and positive posts from the past that have been shared thousands of times.
“It’s something we are proud that we support, and we’re going to keep doing that,” he said. “The more negative that comes out, it makes us push harder for the better cause.”
