Two years ago, Smitty Manion and Tim Rupert, now seniors, booked the boat for this year's St. Olaf's unofficial Riverboat dance that launches from Harriet Island every spring. But on Apr. 23, five days before the big day, Riverboat was cancelled because of flooding.

Although there were rumors that it would not be rescheduled in a different location, Manion and Rupert called every banquet hall in the St. Paul/Minneapolis area and finally found that the Marriott Airport Hotel in Bloomington had an opening for Apr. 28, the night Riverboat was scheduled.

Approximately 530 tickets were sold, but Rupert estimates that more than 600 people showed up. The attendance was lower than usual, considering the boat has a capacity for 710 people and tickets always sell out. Rupert associates this with the change of venue to a hotel. After the announcement that Riverboat would be at the Marriott, "we bought back about 25 tickets from people that decided they didn't want to go," said Rupert. However, the majority of students did not seem to mind the new location.

"When I heard Riverboat was changed to "Hotel Prom," I was thinking about not going, but I thought it would be fun to stay in the hotel with everyone," said student Emilee Ellingson.

Most who went did not regret their decision. "I want Riverboat to be at the Marriott every year," student Annie Erickson said.

Rupert said he heard others make comments similar to Erickson's. He said that a few people told him they thought it would be a good idea to have a dance like the one at the Marriott in the winter, and continue with Riverboat in the spring. Manion said that approximately 80 rooms were booked for the St. Olaf students, and this probably contributed to the positive reaction. Students could go early to the hotel to hang out and swim and head for the dance whenever they felt like it. There was no problem with drinking and driving to other hotels, which is often a concern, and it was possible to hang out with many other students after the dance.

There were a couple of downsides to the night, however. Some hallway lights were broken, and a vending machine had its glass shattered. Hotel management caught the students that participated in these activities.

"The hotel said that on the whole the group was very cooperative, there were just a few people that caused trouble," Rupert said.

The vandalism and subsequent consequences did not deter most from a good time, and some even came away from the event with some prizes. Besides the numerous door prizes that were awarded, there was a Twistoff dance contest for $100 that students Jayme Andrews and Craig Newman won.

Manion felt the night went extremely well.

"Throwing Riverboat turned out to be more work than I had expected, but once the actual night came, all the work paid off," he said. "Everyone looked great and seemingly felt great."

He shared a story that may explain Saturday night the best: "I had lost one shoe by the next morning. I then entered the hall and jokingly asked the first person I saw if they had seen one lone shoe. That person immediately identified the location of it, as well as the next completely random person I encountered. I believe my shoe may have had a more wild night than myself, and to be honest, I am still scared to wear it."