Best Place to Relax
1. Home
2. Serenity Salon & Day Spa
3. Along the river
Best Massage Therapist
1. Pamela Fisher (Two Rivers Massage)
2. Darryl Elliott (Alternate Aves Massage Therapy)
3. Amee Padgett (Serenity Salon & Day Spa)
Pamela Fisher initially thought that off-site massages - which she began offering in local malls - would entice people to her Two Rivers Massage business, now located at 1411 Sixth Avenue in Moline.
But what's she learned, she said, is that "most people don't have time to get a massage after work." So she brings the massage to work - to places such as the Rock Island Arsenal and Deere & Company corporate locations - as well as airports in the Quad Cities, Des Moines, and Madison, Wisconsin. These are "chair massages" - clothes-on, neck-to-hip, no-oil bodywork.
"There are a lot of spas, a lot of massage therapists," she said, and this is one way to differentiate herself. Two Rivers (http://www.tworiversmassage.com) was established in 1999 and now has 12 licensed massage therapists in the Quad Cities, Fisher said, and her business is split evenly between her downtown-Moline location and remote sites.
Fisher has also opened del Sole Barefoot Spa (http://www.delsolebarefootspa.com) at her Moline location, which offers, according to its Web site, "luxurious foot massage and treatments."
- Jeff Ignatius
Best Day Spa
1. Serenity Salon & Day Spa
2. William Wesley Grand Salon & Spa
3. Five Star Salon Spa
Best Place to Volunteer
1. Humane Society
2. Habitat for Humanity
3. American Red Cross
If you're looking for a place to volunteer but are worried about potential strains on your time and energy, the area's humane societies could not possibly be making it easier for you. The Humane Society of Scott County, in fact, spells out its volunteer policy with: "The best thing you can do for an animal is nothing." By this, says the organization's executive director, Pam Arndt, they mean simply giving animals "some human interaction" through duties as basic as petting and walking and brushing ... and talking. ("Some people feel a little silly at first," she says of volunteers speaking to cats and dogs, "but they do it.") While all of the area's humane societies - including the Humane Society of Rock Island County and Milan's Quad City Animal Welfare Center - welcome aid in areas as diverse as cleaning and Web-site upkeep, most of the volunteers, Arndt says, are there to connect with the animals, and (at Scott County) can interact with them after a two-hour training course, held on the first Sunday of every month. After that, they're free to volunteer as much time as they'd like - "whatever fits their schedule," says Arndt. (She adds, "We have one woman who comes in every day and walks six or seven dogs.") With their citation as the area's "Best Place to Volunteer," the humane societies' programs appear to be successful, though Arndt says she's always happy to see more participants. "I hate to say it," she says with a laugh, "but some of our volunteers come in looking for the perfect animal [for themselves] and find one, and then we never see them again!"
- Mike Schulz
Best Place to Exercise
1. YMCA
2. Ulitmate Fitness
3. Rock Island Fitness & Activity Center
