Been looking for an excuse to visit Montgomery Place? Need something "special" to motivate you to make the trip to Annandale? Well, now you've got one.  Montgomery Place is one of the sites featured in the ninth annual Hudson River Valley Ramble planned for weekends in September. MP gets to show off its garden stuff on Saturday, Sept. 13, at 11 a.m.

Walk with Landscape Director Sarah Price through the glorious gardens that grace this former country seat of the Livingston Family. Sarah and her team have been meticulously restoring the estate using planting plans original to the property. You can see the fruits of their labor - circa early 20th century gardens that range from lush perennial, annual and herb beds to the naturalistic "Rough Garden" and the "Ellipse" with a reflecting water lily pool (shown above).

Ramble organizers say that by visiting MP you will gain a view into the colors, fragrances, and designs popular during America's estate garden era. I heartily agree!

The walk is pretty easy, and the tour will cover roughly a half mile. If you can't make it on Sept. 13, you are welcome to visit MP any other Saturday or Sunday through October. Options include a self-guided audio tour of the estate.

The Ramble is sponsored annually by the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area, Hudson River Valley Greenway, and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's Estuary Program.

MP's Ramble tour is one of 202 events taking place from Saratoga County all the way to NYC. (For a complete listing of events, click here.

More than 100,000 people participated in the 2007 Ramble -- though presumably not all at the same time and place. Cause that would have been a lot of people rambling on, and you would have noticed that.

Summer is beginning to wind down, at least for kids who are facing the mixed emotions of the back-to-school bell, so we thought it appropriate to piggyback on our Aug. 14 entry and offer some final thoughts on the pilot Riverweek program at Van Cortlandt Manor, which ran from Aug. 4-8 and was organized by Danielle Fontaine, HHV summer camp guru (shown above).

Danielle said she found it particularly rewarding to work with the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater organization, which centers around a boat built by folksinger Pete Seeger in the 1960s to bring attention to pollution and environmental degradation plaguing the Hudson.

Riverweek wasn't the first time these two organizations partnered on projects. Danielle is a long time volunteer for Clearwater and had worked with Clearwater educator Dan Einbender on past projects such as the Summerweek program at Sunnyside.

After several brainstorming sessions between HHV Program Director Ross W. Higgins, Van Cortlandt Manor Site Director Althea Corey, and Clearwater Director Jeff Rumpf, the team of Dan and Danielle created the program that would become Riverweek's. With the addition of Camp Director Christin Creary and the talents of HHV's interpretive staff, Riverweek came to life.

A true blend of both organization's missions and educational programs, Riverweek featured a split day: mornings being spent in the early 19^th century with the Van Cortlandt family and other residents of the manor, with students studying how the Hudson and Croton Rivers shaped our history.

The afternoons were spent learning about the environment, ecology, and our effect on the future of our rivers. Campers built their own boats, prepared a lunch featuring Van Cortlandt family recipes for river fish, tied nets, studied the Hudson River School of painting, and made hand crafts of sailors past such as scrimshaw, knot work, and sailor's valentines. Students also spent  time studying aquatic life, examining the food web through games, and testing the waters of the rivers.

One entire Riverweek day was spent at Croton Point Park, seining in the Hudson River, collecting fish, and taking water samples. Students got to learn how they, as stewards of the river, can protect the waterways for future generations. Each day at lunch, there was a moment of silence, providing a chance to just listen to the surrounding environment and feel a part of nature, rather than just watching it on a screen.

Campers wrote their own song parodies and designed story boards with their own photographs, reflecting on what they learned during the week. They presented the end results in a concert for parents on the final day.

Danielle says by all measures the program was a huge success.

"After reviewing comments from campers and the written responses from parents, we are very hopeful that Riverweek will become a permanent part of Historic Hudson Valley's summer program offerings," she said.

From HVBLogger's perspective, any program that gets kids outside and thinking about the implications of man's footprint on the environment is a good thing, indeed. Bravo to Danielle and the entire crew for making it happen.

Greetings HHV Members: It's your old orange friend, BlazeBlogger. You might want to check your e-mail. There's something glowing in there.

HVBlogger has just learned of some interesting new additions to the more than 60 children's book authors and illustrators who will be taking part in Celebrate Children's Book Day at Washington Irving's Sunnyside on Sunday, Sept. 28.

Joining an already impressive roster of expected attendees will be Brian Selznick. He is the author/illustrator of The Invention of Hugo Cabret, for which he won the prestigious Caldecott Medal for 2008.

The Caldecott is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published that year. It was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. Together with the Newbery Medal, it is the most prestigious American children's book award.

Two other late-breaking additions to Book Day are Howard Whitehouse, author of The Island of Mad Scientists, and Maria Carluccio, author/illustrator of The Sounds Around Town. Both will be participating in the event for the first time.

It's definitely going to be a can't-miss event for children's book fans.

Greg Clary wrote an outstanding piece in today's Journal News about the Historic Hudson Valley Youth Conservation Corps. The piece, which ran on the front page of the "Your World" section, comes complete with great photos, too.

With the seven-week program ending this Friday, the article is perfectly timed to be a great memento for the participants. Kudos to all the students who took part this summer!

Read Greg's piece here.