Rowe Camp and Conference Center marks 100 years

Jenna Cusak is Rowe Camp’s new executive director.

Jenna Cusak is Rowe Camp’s new executive director. CONTRIBUTED/ROWE CAMP

By MADISON SCHOFIELD

Staff Writer

Published: 06-03-2025 3:05 PM

ROWE — The Rowe Camp and Conference Center is celebrating its 100th anniversary this weekend, with a new executive director at the helm.

Second generation camper Jenna Cusack will be taking over as executive director, with the goal of expanding off-season programming and space rentals while maintaining a spirit of support, growth and inclusivity.

“I think wholeheartedly we found the right person to lead us and I just really look forward to everything we’re going to create together under Jenna’s leadership,” said Holly Thompson, president of Rowe Center’s board of trustees.

The camp was founded in 1924 by a Unitarian Universalist minister with the mission of providing a safe space for people to “explore, reflect, grow and play” through summer camp for youths aged 8-18 and programming and retreats for adults.

“Even though we are rooted in Unitarian Universalist principles and camp is based around those beliefs, it is just a place to have fun and be silly,” Cusack said. “This space is safe for them (campers) to do exactly that. They show up the way they want and are accepted and loved and have a lot of fun.”

Since summer camps were not held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this summer is the 100th that the Rowe Center has been open to campers. To celebrate, the camp is inviting generations of campers to return for a weekend of “reconnecting and forging new connections.”

“We’re super excited for this weekend,” Thompson said. “Generations of former campers who have called Rowe home will be here to celebrate … it’ll be a good weekend of sharing memories and honoring the camp that has changed so many lives.”

Over the course of the weekend attendees can catch up with old friends and make new ones while reminiscing and participating in classic camp activities. There will be hiking, dancing and singing, and outings on Pelham Lake. Thompson said the camp is expecting more than 100 visitors this weekend.

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Cusack said she was excited to meet some of her dad’s friends from when he was a camper, and spend another summer on the lake that she spent her childhood exploring.

“I remember for as long as I could process English, he would talk about camp and how it was the place that made him who he was. So I was so excited when I was eight years old and I got to get on a plane across the country to come to Rowe,” Cusack said.

In addition to being a second generation camper, Cusack has previously worked at the camp as a counselor. She has served on committees for the board of trustees since 2022 and as a board member-at-large since 2024, co-chairing the Development and the Youth Programs Advisory committees. While originally from Washington, she is moving to Rowe from Atlanta, Georgia, where she worked as an operations manager in film and television.

“I feel like I’ve had a front-row seat to the inner workings of the organization, in a really helpful way. I feel somewhat uniquely qualified to navigate the systems that exist here, because we are unique and have our own ways of doing things,” Cusack said.

As she leads the center into its next century, Cusack said her goals include expanding programming and getting more local organizations and businesses to rent the space.

“What we’re really looking to do in the next 100 years, but really in the next five years, is bring in more rentals and retreats, whether they be leadership or staff retreats or family gatherings and vacations,” Cusack said. “Reunions, music retreats, creative art making spaces, yoga and meditation classes — we’ve had a lot of success with those communities in the past.”

Reach Madison Schofield at 413-930-4579 or mschofield@recorder.com