After the July 2016 tragedy, women of Main Street share their stories
ary Anne Madeiros found a temporary place for her salon, but couldn’t wait to get back to Main Street
Text by Halima Aziza and Amanda Loudin Photography by Mary C. Gardella
December 2016/January 2017
Though Mary Anne Madeiros was displaced by the flood, she landed on her feet – specifically at Thirty Hair in Columbia, where the hairstylist was able to rent space for the remainder of the summer. But Madeiros was 
determined to return to her business, Salon Marielle, on Main Street, and reopened in October. “There’s a community here,” she says. She looks forward to seeing Historic Ellicott City whole again.
After years in the beauty industry, Madeiros, a Rhode Island native, opened Salon Marielle of Ellicott City in May 2000. The shop grew to become a premier Aveda Concept salon in Howard County, so seven years later, Madeiros opened a second location in Harford County.
Madeiros, who runs both salons with her daughter Rachel Rawlings, says she enjoys helping customers feel good about themselves. “People think this business is all about vanity,” she says. “But you make people look beautiful on the outside and it makes them feel good on the inside.”
When she’s not in the salons, the Harford County resident works with several charitable organizations. In 2007, she founded the Red Pump Ball to raise money for the Upper Chesapeake Hospital Cardiology Department; the event has raised more than $80,000 to date.
The day of the flood was a typical, busy Saturday at the salon, located at 8239 Main Street. Madeiros left at 4 p.m., while the remaining employees stayed to close up at 5. Later that evening she received a message from one of her clients, “Do you know what’s happening in Ellicott City?” She didn’t realize the storm’s severity until later that night, on the 11 o’ clock news.
Even as Salon Marielle’s foundation disappeared, salon products remained upright on shelves in the storefront windows. But Madeiros was more concerned about her staff. “I was grateful no one got hurt in our salon family,” she says.
After 10 days of recovery and strategizing, Madeiros got back to work, toggling between the Havre de Grace location and a temporary home at Thirty Hair Aveda Concept Salon. When Thirty Hair stylists were without a location a couple of years ago, Salon Marielle opened its doors to them. In August, manager Sarah McGee was happy to return the favor for displaced Salon Marielle employees. But even a month after the flood, Madeiros was still unable to enter her Main Street shop to assess the actual damage.
Madeiros says she has received help from Massachusetts, New Jersey and Maryland. A friend established a GoFundMe page that collected more than $7,000 in August and September. One client pitched in s $1,000 while another friend gave $500. Madeiros also received donations of salon supplies — everything from blow dryers to hair foil.
By late August, business was back to about 40 percent of its previous capacity. Madeiros appreciates her Salon Marielle clients’ loyalty and the widespread generosity from across the country.
“There’s a lot of goodness in people,” she says. *
– H.A.
