Each January, Hunterdon Happening kicks the year off with a bang by hosting the most important people’s choice contest in Hunterdon County– The Happening List®! With thousands of local people, places, and businesses competing in the most competitive Happening List contest ever, a select few have taken home top honors as Winners and Finalists in the 2021 Hunterdon Happening List Competition.

This year Hunterdon Happening list bestowed awards and bragging rights to our top local business owners. Throw a pandemic at us- no problem. Our community proved to be even stronger and more vibrant than ever. 2021 confirmed how lucky we all are to have such fabulous and diverse businesses and owners to celebrate. Congrats to all The Happening List® nominees, finalists and winners!

Throughout the year, we check in with our Happening List winners. From family fun to automotive experts to spas to trusted health experts and everything in between! Learn more about some of the people and businesses who took home top honors in the 2021 Hunterdon Happening List Hall of Fame.

Since 1989, Massage Therapy Group has been a medical massage clinic providing therapeutic massage and specialized pain relief techniques.  Their Mission is to be a Sanctuary for Health, Healing, and Relief. They utilize various modalities and advanced techniques to aid the body’s natural healing ability. Whether their clients are seeking relief from aches and pains caused by sitting at a computer all day, stress, orthopedic injuries, migraines, headaches, or chronic pain conditions. They work with a varied client base from oncology patients to student-athletes.

Let them help you to meet your goals of increased function, pain relief and provide regular maintenance. Their techniques encompass myofascial release, deep tissue massage, neuromuscular therapy, orthopedic and sports massage techniques, Thai massage, lymph drainage, Swedish massage, and stretching.  Whether you find them online at www.massageofhunterdon.com or are referred by your medical professional, their specialized work and team of exceptional massage therapists will help you optimize your health and speed recovery.  It is a natural partnership since Medical massage therapy has proven complementary to various types of treatments, as an effective way to reduce a patient’s level of pain and improve healing.

The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick was the 2021 winner in the Hunterdon Happenings/Everything Hunterdon/Charity competition. We were a finalist the prior year. The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick of Hunterdon County is a 501c3 charity organization founded on the tenets of Culture, Community, and Camaraderie. The organization believes that integrity and excellence in our efforts and supporting our community through volunteerism and charitable works and donations are fundamental to everything we do. As a non-denominational and apolitical fraternal organization, we are men of similar ideals, values, and objectives. We strive to promote and preserve Irish-American culture and are equally proud of each heritage. Through our annual fundraisers such as the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Clinton, the parade After Party and the annual golf outing, all the money raised goes to helping the less fortunate in Hunterdon County and supporting other charities and local food pantries. We meet on the second Tuesday of each month at the Clinton Elks at 8 pm. One does not have to be of Irish descent to join us, only to share our common objective of being the best that we can be. Our other purpose is also just to have fun. Should you wish to contact us or donate to help in our charitable efforts; please mail a check to FSSP PO Box Annandale NJ. Or email: fssphunterdon@gmail.com.

Many people ask why is River Rock so different from any other Day Spa??…, We feel it’s because the owner Rebecca Myhre the owner of River Rock Salon and Spa has been in the spa industry since 1996 she has had many celebrity clientele, worked for the Eagles Football team and is Triple Licensed In Massage Therapy, Aesthetics and Cosmetology.  Not only do we give you a relaxing atmosphere, but we are also very well educated and the services that we perform. Rebecca was in a horrific car accident broke 24 bones and was told she would never walk again, but through patience hard work, and Massage Therapy she came back stronger than ever. So when she says she knows your pain and she’s been there she truly has.

A consistent Pilates practice can offer benefits to everybody. Whether you’re an experienced athlete looking to step up your training or you’re simply looking to start a new fitness routine, Pilates creates a strong foundation of balance, strength, mobility, and flexibility.

My passion for serving others goes beyond the scope of just buying and selling; it entails helping you get into the kind of lifestyle you have always aspired to. Specializing as a Sellers Agent, a Buyer’s Agent and in Real Estate Investing, I take great pride in providing unparalleled service tailored to effectively and creatively match individual/family property goals and needs. Be it working with first-time or repeat clients, I am committed to providing detailed attention, consistent service, and unrelenting support. This extends to my membership in the Hometown Heroes Project which helps veterans buy homes and get re-integrated back into society. I have lived locally for over 30 years and know the local housing market including the constituent neighborhoods and communities within the region. Prior to becoming a Realtor®, I was CEO and President of various financial service companies for 10 years: an experience to which I attribute my superior marketing and negotiation skills. From providing professional and drone photography to fashioning professional brochures and optimizing on social media marketing, I am truly committed to stopping at nothing short of exceeding all your expectations. That is my goal and commitment

Yoga Essence of Lebanon is honored to have won the Happenings List Best Yoga Studio in Hunterdon County for the third year in a row.  Yoga Essence is located at 56 Payne Road in Lebanon (next to Sweet Melissa’s) and offers a variety of yoga classes seven days a week.  You can find Hot Yoga, Gentle Yoga, Yin Yoga, All Levels Flow Yoga, and more on their schedule.

In addition to their weekly yoga classes, Yoga Essence is a certified yoga school offering 200hr Yoga Teacher Training to anyone who wishes to deepen their personal practice or wishes to become a certified yoga teacher! Since launching their Yoga Teacher Training program in 2017, Yoga Essence has certified over 30 yoga teachers in the New Jersey area.  Yoga Essence has two other yoga studios in Dunellen and New Providence, all offering in-person and live stream yoga.  Each studio is unique and provides a welcoming space and exceptional teachers to facilitate your physical, spiritual, and emotional well-being.  Visit www.yogaessencestudio.com to join their community.  Follow them on Facebook and Instagram as well!

In 2018, Cagno Fitness was founded with the mission “To coach using exceptional
training programs for our clients’ optimal health and performance while educating and empowering.” This year, 2021, is the first year Cagno Fitness was nominated to the Best Personal Training category and they won! Kristina Cagno, owner, and head coach has been a leader in the fitness industry for 20 years. She offers a holistic approach to her clients and athletes with focus on functional movement, nutrition, breathing, and mindset. “We are more focused on healthy movement and balanced strength than targeting muscle groups,” as she mentions on her website, cagnofitness.com. Clients receive a Functional Movement Screen with their initial session, a systematic assessment used by numerous college and professional sports teams and designed by a physical therapist. With that screen, a very specialized program is designed to create better mobility and stability of your joints. We have trained people to feel better and lose weight, triathletes, long-distance runners, middle school and high school athletes, and high-altitude mountain climbers. In addition to running her local business, Cagno enjoys being on faculty in the exercise science department at County College of Morris and spending time with her family.

We’re Niki Phillips Photography – a husband and wife photography team that uses our cameras to capture memories, create stories, and preserve moments in time. Our style is very candid and non-obtrusive. We love to develop relationships with our subjects and use our photography to tell the story of who they are, or deliver their message in a very natural, honest, and uncontrived way. Photography challenges us to expand our creativity and requires finding new perspectives, angles, and compositions to present a message, emotion, or moment. Our mission is to give you our complete dedication to creating phenomenal images that will forever remind you of the happiest days of your life. Photographs are the visual representation of your story that replace memories over time and we cherish the opportunity to help you preserve it. We aren’t your typical photography team – we’re rowdy adventure seekers, coffee addicts, tour guides, planners, and your closest friends who just so happen to also take pictures.

Crystal has been a licensed massage therapist since 2005. She has a Bachelor of Science in
Biology and has obtained a separate certification in Neuromuscular Therapy that helps to treat chronic pain conditions and release bound fascia throughout the body. She offers a variety of therapeutic modalities including; Deep Tissue, Prenatal, Lomi-Lomi, Hot Stone, and Neuromuscular Therapy. Appointments are available either in-home or in-studio at Haven Healing Collective in High Bridge, NJ. Education is everything to Crystal so naturally, she wants to make sure her clients have a relaxing experience while also learning about their bodies. “My approach to massage includes the wisdom from many different ancient healing practices and a few more modern modalities as well. The human body has this amazing ability to heal itself when everything is balanced and brought into alignment. That is my ultimate goal as a wellness practitioner –giving your body that little push that it needs to restore balance and allow it to function optimally and naturally.

BDesign’D began in 2016 with one thing in mind, to create unique and beautiful homes that complement your lifestyle. Our homes need to be able to function on the level we are at, whether it’s a family with kids or empty nesters. Providing my clients with a personal, boutique-style experience, every custom design is thoughtfully curated to reflect what is most important to the you-your HOME.

OUR SERVICES
Residential Home Design
Kitchen and Bath Design
Room Design Consultations
Virtual Design
3D Designs for Visual Planning
Interior Furnishing Selection
Construction Finish Selections (flooring,
paint, hardware, lighting)
Project Management

Kelly is Hunterdon’s puppy training expert. It’s a great job—she gets to play with puppies and share lots of fun with puppy parents all day. But, of course, there’s more to it than that. Puppies are cute, but they’re also a lot of work. Anyone’s who’s ever brought home an adorable furball only to find out they
have a biting, chewing, pooping, peeing, shoe stealing, jumping, little handful knows the truth of that! Kelly turns the chaos into calm so puppy parents can enjoy that special time of puppyhood and raise the furry, four-legged, well-mannered, family member they were hoping for. Clients are delighted to realize
they don’t have a doggie demon on their hands and are dazzled when they see the full potential of their puppy. Her programs bring fun and learning together with puppy socialization and training programs to grow confident canines one puppy at a time!