'Protest Against Drugs' Set After Restaurant Reopens

Rather than watch another Hopatcong business continue to carry on with drugs and seediness, residents of the town are planning a protest to let passersby know their town doesn’t welcome such actions.

Robin Calandriello and Robin DeLorenzo, residents of Hopatcong, have put together a protest to take place Sunday, Aug. 18 on the sidewalks and streets around River Styx Grill from noon to 2 p.m. The women decided, after an alleged major heroin trafficking ring was dissolved last week, it was time to take a stand.

The restaurant’s owner, John Davieau, was arrested Aug. 6 for his reputed connection to a multi-county heroin trafficking program that alleges he brought in drugs from Newark and sold them to residents in Morris and Sussex counties.

Davieau, who also is the president of Royal Communications in Wharton, opened the restaurant in June after a year of renovations.

It was shut down until Davieau posted the $150,000 bail he was being held on, and is now opened to the public.

“We were so excited about the new restaurant coming to town,” Calandriello said about the opening of River Styx. “We thought it would help change the face of business in the area and be a good family restaurant to go to.”

It turned out to be just the opposite, Calandriello said.

“When my family went there after it first opened, it was a complete disappointment,” the Hopatcong resident of 18 years said. “The same people were hanging out there that used to and the foul language made us uncomfortable. We ended up taking our food to go so we could leave sooner.”

Calandriello said the restaurant in that location previously, the Tidal Wave, had a negative connotation and was not family friendly.

For DeLorenzo, the protest is more personal.

The Hopatcong resident of nearly three decades lives just down the road from the business, and had her child’s bus stop in the area of the restaurant this past school year.

“From the beginning I didn’t get a good feeling from them,” DeLorenzo said. “The female owner would come in and tell us being near the property while waiting for the bus was a liability and wanted us to get off her property. She was never nice and even confronted some of the moms.”

DeLorenzo knew then, before the restaurant even opened, she wouldn’t be supporting the business.

“They said it would be a family-friendly place, but she’s yelling about our kids being near the property,” DeLorenzo said. “The hypocrisy is mind blowing.”

So when the new restaurant received negative reviews and, eventually, a shutdown due to its alleged connection with a drug ring, Calandriello said she was in shock.

And that’s when the idea to protest came about.

“Robin (DeLorenzo) and I spoke about it and decided it was something we needed to do,” she said. “We’re tired of (the drug problems) in our town. We don’t want our town’s name tarnished by drugs. We need to protect our kids.”

“(River Styx) shouldn’t be opened after what happened,” DeLorenzo said. “I don’t want to see a business have to close, but I don’t want them here. Let them go elsewhere.”

The protest will take place on the streets and sidewalks around the restaurant, but not on restaurant property. Protestors may also station themselves on the lake, Calandriello said.

“We don’t want to interfere with people coming in and out (of River Styx),” she said. “We’ll have posters and signs letting residents know why we’re there, but we want a peaceful demonstration above all else.”

The duo has put together an event on Facebook called Protest Against Drugs in Hopatcong, and as of 11 a.m. Wednesday more than 500 people were invited with a dozen attending.

“I hope to see people sink their teeth into this,” DeLorenzo said. “And this is certainly something we can sink our teeth into.”