"Riverweek is the best camp on the Hudson."

A strong claim, indeed, but it's straight from the mouth of a young environmentalist who recently took part in Historic Hudson Valley's Riverweek summer camp at Van Cortlandt Manor.

A new program launched this year, Riverweek was designed by HHV's camp gurus to complement the organization's existing Summerweek programs, which are for children ages 9-11 and take place at Sunnyside and Philipsburg Manor, as well as Van Cortlandt Manor.

Riverweek, however, which is dedicated to the history of the Hudson and Croton Rivers as well as modern lessons about conservation and preservation, is for the 11- 13-year-old set.

"So many of our students who stay with us for three years in Summerweek asked us for a camp for older kids that we just had to respond," said Danielle Fontaine, camp manager. "They wanted something that was different and challenging but still featured the historic immersion experience that defines Summerweek."

This year's pilot Riverweek program, a collaboration with Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, was by all measures a huge success, said Danielle, who you can see in the top photo (she's the one with the ponytail.)

In an exit survey, a whopping 100% of the campers (yes, that means all of them) said they would want to return and repeat the program next year and would highly recommend the program to their friends.

Now that's impressive!

Activities ranged from the artistic (like creating the brightly colored carp shown above) to the crafty (like building wooden boats, also shown above).

More on Riverweek to come...