Sal Marchese, a longtime fixture Belmar’s business community, died on July 5 after courageously battling cancer for the past nine months. He was 66. An internationally recognized hair stylist, Marchese owned and operated Salon Marsal on 10th Avenue for some 17 years after spending two decades in New York City, where he trained under Vidal Sassoon and was known in fashion and entertainment circles as one of the best in his field.

It wasn’t long before Marchese was putting his own special touches on more than the patrons of his successful salon. A driving force behind the revitalization of Belmar’s downtown district, he was the founding president of the Belmar Business Partnership, a nonprofit corporation created to manage the borough’s Special Improvement District by supporting commerce, business and tourism in this seashore community.