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Dates and Times:

April 4-6, 2025

All-Inclusive Price for Shared Dorm Housing

Starts at $375 for 2 nights

Scholarships Available
See full policies & procedures

Apply for Financial Assistance Here

Price includes your choice of housing, meals, program, and access to Rowe Camp grounds and amenities. Commuting guests must purchase the commuter option, which covers the program and facility use fees.

New This Year: Choose Your Own Room!
Our updated booking system now allows room selection. To support accessibility, we may reassign rooms as needed for mobility-impaired guests. Please consider leaving first-floor rooms, such as Tranquility Dorm, for those who require accessible facilities.

If a housing conflict arises, our front desk staff will contact you prior to your arrival.

"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 welcome you to our newest retreat for Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Queer men, “Spring Thaw: A Retreat for Men Who Love Men.” This retreat serves many men as a mid-year reunion of the cherished Rowe Labor Day Retreat and emerged in the years following the COVID pandemic. At that time, we were worn out by the pandemic yet yearning more than ever for the kinds of connections we can create at Rowe. And so, we gather with a slightly different sense of purpose from our Labor Day gathering: a desire to rest and relax deeply, together.

For those familiar with the Labor Day Retreat, you will find “Thaw” significantly less busy and less programmed. It is a shorter weekend retreat with fewer planned activities and more free time. While some retreats encourage us to push our “growing edges” or lean into challenging activities, the call here is the opposite. This is a weekend for extraordinary men to be content with “just enough”, a weekend for relaxing into ourselves just as we are.

The weekend is open as a reunion for previous Rowe Labor Day attendees but also welcomes those curious about Rowe. We provide newcomer support both before and throughout the weekend and are happy to answer all of your questions as you consider attendance. Expect delicious, nourishing meals,  gentle morning yoga (beginners are welcome), reflective workshops, a great dance on the last evening, games, quiet corners in which to read or converse, and more. The weekend is lightly programmed and spacious.

Beyond our indoor activities, Rowe Center’s trails offer a serene and remote retreat for those craving time in nature, and our hot sauna will take the chill off when you return from your hike.

We welcome all gay, bi, trans, queer, and questioning men. We celebrate men from every walk of life—from all races, cultural identities, spiritual beliefs, economic backgrounds, body shapes, physical capabilities, gender expressions, and neurological diversities. This is a sober (alcohol- and substance-free) event.

Please consider joining us this April.

You may learn about and register for our Labor Day retreat here.

Meet the Rowe Labor Day Men’s Co-Directors

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.