The custom built brick oven at Manor Hill Tavern is cooking Neapolitan-style pizzas again. The restaurant’s changing list of beers, created locally by Manor Hill Brewing, are flowing through the taps once more.
Friends are able to grab a drink after work at Ellicott Mills Brewing Company and hit La Palapa Grill and Cantina for their favorite Mexican fare.
Gifts and apparel are back on the shelves of Sweet Elizabeth Jane, and other businesses like candy store E.C. Pops and home decor focused Su Casa are exploring options to return.
These are just a few of the businesses that remain loyal to Old Ellicott City after more than eight inches of rain doused the area in just two hours in late May, leaving behind more than $10 million in damages, and causing the death of a man as he attempted to save a woman’s life.
The Main Street area was closed to the public for several weeks for cleanup, just under two years after the area was hit by a similar storm, which dumped six inches of rain in less than two hours.
As businesses recover, the Restaurant Association of Maryland (RAM), along with the flood victim’s friends and family members, have established the Eddison Hermond Memorial Scholarship to honor the Severn resident who died during the storm.
The 39-year-old, who earned the rank of sergeant, was a U.S. Air Force veteran and a member of the National Guard. Hermond worked for more than a decade with the Victoria Restaurant Group, beginning as one of its first employees at Victoria Gastro Pub in 2007 and helping to open Manor Hill Tavern last year.
In his last Facebook post, as the Memorial Day holiday weekend got underway, Hermond sent an upbeat message: “Let’s get the hate out of our hearts. Focus on the positives and let’s all, for once, enjoy life as it’s meant to be enjoyed.”
The scholarship will be given annually to an individual in the hospitality industry looking to further their education and help others.
In order to make a contribution, go to marylandrestaurants.com/hermondscholarship.html. Checks and money orders may also be sent to: Restaurant Association of Maryland Education Foundation, Attn: Eddison Hermond Memorial Scholarship Fund, 6301 Hillside Court, Columbia, MD 21046.
