The massage rooms are soothing and inviting. Photo by Sunny Given

The hand-crafted tables at the salon stations look as if they could walk on their own. Photo by Sunny Given

    

Spotlight on Nicholas Romanoli Sunny Given Staff Writer      If Patrick Stanislawczyk is the facilitator, Nic is the visionary. They've worked well together for five years now.      Patrick describes Nic as "a cross between Norman Rockwell, Calvin Klein and Bruce Webber."Patrick describes Nic as "a cross between Norman Rockwell, Calvin Klein and Bruce Webber."      For an internationally ranked hair stylist and photographer, Nic Romanoli had humble beginnings. He was born in Ohio, near Wheeling, WV. He grew up in New Jersey, where he attended beauty school, then graduated from WVU with a major in pshchology, paying for his education by cutting hair. He trained with Vidal Sassoon in Chicago, and Jean Madeline in Philadelphia..      He was a top educator for L'anza Hair Products, doing platform workshops all over the US and Canada for several years. He's worked with Carl Lagerfield, Chanel, Perma of Paris and Adolpho.      The European connection comes from - of all places - WVU, where a foreign exchange student he'd worked with on the 1984 Men of WVU calendar invited him to Paris. He lived all over Europe. Three years ago, while in Italy, he trained in photography with Lois Greenfield, world renowned for her images of bodies in motion.      Nic's been able to apply his creative talents to marketing his beauty career. His hair designs and photography have appeared in international hair magazines such as Modern Salon, Passion, Coiffure Q, American Salon, Salon Today and RacerXIllustrated.      He and a co-worker, Antoinette Hill, established Tonique Haute Hair in 1984.      Three years ago, Nic, Antoinette and Kate Campbell, opened Tonique's Trilogy in a renovated and remodeled Victorian house in downtown Morgantown.      Trilogy also serves as an art gallery. On October 6 of last year, they opened the Waterfront Spa and Salon at the Radisson in Morgantown.

     Above: Original prints and paintings are hung throughout the spa.
Practice makes perfect: Nancy Murphy practices her pedicure skills on
fellow employee and massage therapist, Marie Russell.

Mountain Adventures offers high-end rentals in Allegheny Springs. Photo by Pam Pritt

New rental shop opens
in Allegheny Springs

Pamela Pritt
Managing Editor
      Tired of rentals that have been, well, rented for years? Mountain Adventures has just the stuff you need. The new store in Allegheny Springs offers high-end rentals from companies like Salomon, Rossignol, Atomic, Vocal, Ride, Burton, Thirty-two, Dolomite, Geenyus and Nitro.

The store also stocks high-quality cold weather gear. Photo by Pam Pritt

     Skies, snowboards, boots, poles and bindings are all available for rent in Snowshoe's newest rental/retail location.
     And some nifty clothing and accessories, as well, some with Snowshoe's logo and some without.
     "We pretty much have all your high end cold weather accessories," a shop spokesperson said.
     So if you forgot those goggles or gloves at home, don't forget Mountain Adventures located in Allegheny Springs across from The Junction restaurant in the Village at Snowshoe.

 
 

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Point, click and you're here!

Take a virtual trip to the mountains

Gail Price
Director, Pocahontas County Convention and Visitors Bureau
      The Internet is a wonderful marketing tool! We use it everyday to steer visitors to information about lodging, shopping and attractions. We keep an up-to-date calendar of events, news stories, and newsletter. One great feature is the interactive finder map. You can go to a business listing and click on the words "find it". That takes you to the map and shows you where the business is located. Or you can click lodging on the map and all the lodging businesses are shown. Click on one and it takes you to the description of the business. Our address is www.pocahontascountywv .com. Check it out this holiday season!
      We do every thing we can to get our website address into every household that we can. We average about 20,000 page views a month. We count page views because those are the visitors that actually take time to read and view the site.

Price Photo courtesy Pocahontas County Convention and Visitors Bureau

      Thousand of Internet users book travel online or use the Internet to research vacation opportunities. One of the most successful travel sites is www.travelocity.com. We have contracted with a company "Traveling America" to showcase tours in Pocahontas County on Travelocity. We developed five tours with attractions and lodging to post on Travelocity. A visitor can then book the tour they choose and pay for it with one check. Then they receive the complete itinerary which includes lodging, attraction tickets and meals. It's one stop shopping at its best!
      Go to www.travelocity.com and click on Vacations. Scroll to the bottom of the Vacations page and click on "Traveling America ­ Drive, Explore and Discover!" Click on Mid-Atlantic and scroll down to West Virginia and click on Pocahontas County. The five tours we have put together will come up. The wonderful thing about the Internet is the ability to get information about our area into the hands of anyone who wants it. We have a huge site that is easy to navigate and very comprehensive.
      So on those snowy days at home, surf the web and visit interesting vacation locations. Others are and they are finding us!
 

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From toe job to blow dry

Pampered spa and salon treatments make you feel brand new

Sunny Given
Staff Writer

Autumn Chapman gets double-teamed by Nic and Kimberly. Photo by Sunny Given

      It was snowing lightly as I finished my deliveries on the mountain and headed to Spa Romanoli for my "spa day." I had an appointment for a pedicure while I waited to speak with Nicholas Romanoli, one of the owners of the spa, who was on his way from Morgantown.
      When I walked in I was informed that Nic was on his way "up the mountain, as we speak."
      I went straight to the salon and began removing my clunky five-pound insulated Georgia Boots, as Nancy Murphy, a spa aesthetician, began getting things ready. I climbed into the pedicure chair after rolling up my pants legs, thankful that I'd shaved recently. It was bad enough to have to worry that my feet might be a little fragrant!
      Never fear! These ladies have it all figured out. Potentially lethal-smelling feet are disarmed before the pedicurist ever gets close to them. I plopped my feet into a vibrating foot bath filled with hot water laced with a skin softener and sanitizer. Aaahhh.
      I prepared to spend about 50 minutes having my feet absolutely spoiled. While I rolled my soles on the textured bottom of the bath and wiggled my toes about, Nancy asked me what color polish I wanted.

An extensive display of the spa's own line of hair and skincare products. Photo by Sunny Given

      Polish?! I couldn't tell you the last time I ever painted my toes. It must have been in junior high.
      "Uhm, I don't paint my nails," I mumbled. "How about something in a clear?"
      Nancy said okay, clear was fine, then the spirit caught me up, and I said, "What the heck - how about that melon-y color!"
      Important decisions taken care of, all I had to do was kick back and relax. Nancy went through the steps we would take - an exfoliating scrub, cut, file, foot masque, cuticle remover, buffing, massage and a lotion to finish.
      The salon uses their own line of products - 'Nico', which debuted this past October - for just about all of the services they offer.
      Nancy took first one foot, then the other and applied a mildly abrasive exfoliating scrub up to my knees. It smelled wonderfully of mint, and if I had any dry skin on my legs and feet, there was no evidence of it afterward.
      "How do you like your nails cut?" Nancy asked.

Nancy Murphy buffs my toenails with a moisturizing oil. Photo by Sunny Given

      "Why don't you just do whatever you think will look best?" I answered.
      She proceeded to clip them short, then filed them to perfection. Next came a soothing foot masque, which warmed as it dried, much like a facial masque. She had applied some cuticle softening oil while this was drying, and proceeded to push down my cuticles.
      Off came the masque, leaving my legs warm and smooth. Nancy took my callouses to task, rubbing and buffing out all the rough spots on the sides and soles, then trimmed my cuticles before applying a hydrating oil to them.
      Then came the best part. I surrendered myself to foot and reflexology massage that seemed to last about five minutes per leg and foot.
      "Does your left neck and shoulder hurt?" Nancy asked, as I was zoning off.
      "Not really - it must be the way I'm sitting," I replied.
      "No - the spot on your foot that corresponds to your neck and shoulders has some tension to it," she replied.
      "Oh," I said, and before this conversation could get really interesting, Nic Romanoli walked in.
      Nic seems to draw people to him wherever he goes, and within minutes of his arrival, two or three women had dropped in to talk with him, or just say hello.
      Nancy put the finishing touches on my tootsies and gave me a pair of disposable slippers to wear as the polish dried. My toes have never looked so elegant. "These don't even look like my feet anymore." I said.
      Nic came over and looked at my hair, pulling on strands and examining the cut.
      "This is a very good cut for your hair," he said. "But I think we're going to have to do something about the color."
      My roots had grown out. And my ends were three or four shades darker. Maybe, subconsiously, I had put off coloring my hair before I scheduled this story!
      Nic and his new stylist, Kimberly, who had just started working at the spa that day, discussed what they were going to do to me. Nic was going to let her handle everything - under his watchful eye.
      As she mixed the color for the foil frosting, Nic explained they'd do the foils, then apply the color to the rest of the hair and let it process. The advantage to that is the hair is finished at one time, and I'd only have to undergo one shampoo. Made sense to me.

I submit to the whims of my stylist, Kimberly. Photo by Nic Romanoli

      They partitioned and frosted and wrapped my hair in tiny papers. If you've ever had your hair frosted by putting on a plastic cap and having strands pulled through with a crochet hook, this is definitely the better way to go! The color was applied to the remainder of my unfoiled hair, and I sat for 20 minutes or so while it processed.
      Autumn Chapman, an employee of the spa, came in for her color appointment. We all talked about the spa and how many more women than men seem to take advantage of the amenities, when men can benefit from facials and pedicures as well.
      But that's not always the case, Autumn commented. "Some guys come once and become 'spa junkies.'"
      Nic's goal with Spa Romanoli is to provide a little quality down time. "I want people to be able to come to the mountain and play hard, then come and relax and refresh themselves at the spa."
      My processing time up, I was shampooed and conditioned and brought back to the chair for a trim and final styling. Nic showed Kim several techniques to soften the cut around my face, and then mousse was applied and I was styled to perfection. I cautioned Nic that I am styling impaired, so anything they did had better be easy! I paid close attention to the drying techniques and vowed to do my best on my own.
      On my way out, pausing to tip all the people who had provided me with such excellent service and a wonderful time, promising to come back and try some of the other services. Nick gave me a hug. "I love my hair!" I said.
      "Here, let me get a shot of the finished product," he said. "We should've done a before and after!" Maybe next time.‡
 

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