Dates and Times:
April 5-7, 2024
Program Cost:
$400
Notes on Fee:
This fee covers the program, meals, and your choice of basic housing.
Please click here for housing information.
If you are a member, please log into your account to register with special members-only pricing.
"The community spirit excelled. The organization by the leadership
was thorough, thoughtful and obviously led by the heart. "
Retreat Guest
"I feel so safe and loved."
Retreat Guest
"I was extremely impressed with how thoughtful
and well-planned the retreat was."
Retreat Guest
"The theme for the weekend was so powerful, and
the workshops were fantastic with
different options that supported the theme."
Retreat Guest
About The Winter Retreat
We are thrilled to invite you to “Spring Thaw: A Retreat for Men Who Love Men,” returning with renewed spirit to The Rowe Center after a memorable previous season. This retreat, an extension of the cherished Rowe Labor Day Retreat legacy, eagerly opens its doors to Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Queer individuals seeking community and connection.
As the first whispers of spring begin to stir beneath the thawing ground, we gather to embrace the annual cycle of rejuvenation and new beginnings. Our curated events promise a delightful blend of enjoyment and relaxation. Anticipate invigorating morning yoga sessions, transformative workshops, vibrant dance opportunities, and a few delightful surprises along the way.
Ample time will be available for forging connections — be it over games, shared meals, or heartfelt conversations.
Yearning for a deeper bond with nature? The Rowe Center's trails await your footsteps, offering a serene retreat into the wild, followed by the warm embrace of our welcoming deliciously hot sauna.
Whether it's been years since your last Labor Day retreat or you're newly “Rowe Curious,” intrigued by the whispers of wonder surrounding our community, we're here to satisfy your curiosity and rekindle the spirit of togetherness.
If questions beckon or if you're ready to take part in this heartwarming homecoming, please reach out. Your presence would brighten our collective journey towards welcoming back the warmer weather of Spring.
This retreat embraces diversity, open to all gay, bi, trans, queer, and questioning men. We celebrate men from every walk of life—across all races, cultural identities, spiritual beliefs, economic backgrounds, body shapes, physical capabilities, gender expressions, and neurological diversities.
We invite YOU, in the fullness of who you are, to join us. Come, let us welcome each other and the season of renewal together.
Meet the Rowe Labor Day Men's Co-Directors
Nirmal Chandraratna
Nirmal Chandraratna is a New York–based Kirtan artist and composer with a passion for nurturing connection— to spirit, to community, and to one's deeper self— through music. Using the voice, the harmonium and the cello, he creates music for Kirtan and Sound Journeys, and works for communal performance. Nirmal also teaches yoga with a focus on body positivity.
Bill Chisholm
Bill Chisholm has been teaching yoga and stress management for 30 years. He is certified in Kripalu Yoga and completed Herbert Benson’s Mind/Medicine course through Harvard. He has also done extensive study and practice in vinyasa, Iyengar, and PNF yoga. He is the former founder of Cape Ann Yoga Center and has taught stress management and yoga at the Marino Health Center in Cambridge and several other medical facilities in the Boston Area. He is a fine art oil painter exhibiting throughout New England and a passionate student of both cello and duduk.
Karl Paulnack
Karl Paulnack lives in Ithaca, NY with his husband Dave and their dog Mato. Karl is an interfaith chaplain at the Cayuga Medical Center and a peer mentor with the Cancer Resource Center in Ithaca.
Karl is devoted to cultivating a broad and inclusive tribe of men-who-love-men, beyond sexual orientation. He has been a featured workshop presenter and speaker for groups of men spanning fraternities, abuse survivors, recovering addicts and spiritual communities. He identifies spiritually as a shaman, with a deep appreciation for ritual inspired by the Catholicism of his childhood as well as the contemplative and reflective life inspired by Buddhist practice.
