
Rowe Labor Day Retreat for Men who love Men is open to all gay, bi, trans, queer, and questioning men, and we welcome self-identified men of all races, cultural backgrounds, religions, socioeconomic statuses, body types, physical abilities, gender expressions, and neuropresentations!
We welcome YOU, all of you, to join us.
Tradition of Support and Love
Now in it's 39th year, the Rowe Labor Day Retreat is one of the longest running gatherings of men who love men in the United States.
Rowe is a place of transformation, providing emotional, intellectual, physical, and spiritual nurturing experiences that support us on our journey. For new participants, Rowe is a safe place to explore coming out, to spread your wings, and to make real friends. For those returning, Rowe offers a real connection with men who value spirituality and personal maturity. This nourishing experience offers a bridge to a more connected view of the gay community and the world. See and feel beauty in yourself and in other men. Expect the unexpected.
We strive to maintain our Rowe traditions and to create an environment where you feel welcomed and supported. We invite you to come and check out our program with workshops led by skilled facilitators. It is thoughtfully created to provide opportunities to explore relationships, body work, art, dating, theater, singing, meditation, spirituality, movement, and much more. You’ll get to laugh, play, dance, grow, and maybe even shed some tears of release.
Year after year we see happiness and love in the faces of men, as life-long friendships and sweet memories are formed. Please join us.

Meet the Rowe Labor Day Men's Retreat Workshop Leaders

Albert Johnson-Mussad

Bob Tetirick

Richard Slade

Nirmal Chandraratna

John Avignone

ChaseR

Dave Dietz

David Aurelio

Doug Motel

Arnie Katz

Bill Chisolm
Meet The Directors

Nirmal Chandraratna
Program Co-Director
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 Chisolm
Program Co-Director
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
Program Co-Director
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 or 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.
