By mid-afternoon tomorrow the Connecticut River will have turned into a sea of rubber and floating bodies.
As they make their way along the river, students floating on inner tubes will listen to live music, imbibe legal and illegal drinks and spend a day of fun in the sun.
Xantha Bruso '97 said she is definitely excited about what has been called the "ultimate event of the summer."
"It's going to be a really good time to see everyone out in the river having fun," said Bruso, who lives on the Connecticut in the house colloquially known as the "River Ranch."
Although Tubestock has become a summer term tradition at Dartmouth, the College and Tubestock are in no way related.
The day-long party is thrown by Rich "Boomer" Akerboom '80, who began the tradition when he held a party for his friends on the river back in 1987.
At the original event, Akerboom, now an environmental engineer, played with his band on the deck of his house -- the "River Ranch" -- while friends watched from the river.
Around 200 students attended the first tubestock, Akerboom previously told The Dartmouth.
According to Akerboom, the event soon caught on. More and more people, including Dartmouth students, rallied to the water. The event took on the proportions of other Dartmouth weekends, like Homecoming and Winter Carnival.
This year's event will include around six or seven different bands according to last year's organizer Ryan FitzSimons '96.
The day, FitzSimons said, usually kicks off around 11 a.m. or midday and goes until 5 p.m.
Some of the '96s who are on this summer said the weekend definitely lives up to its reputation as being the highlight of sophomore summer.
"It was a blast," Jason Fanuele '96 said. "It was a full weekend with a lot of exciting outdoor things to do that you don't see at other weekends."
Fanuele said it was a strange sight to see almost all the members of his class floating down the river on inner tubes.
"It was a community of about one thousand kids all enjoying it as a Dartmouth family," he said. "It was great."
Some students however said though the event was fun it did not live up to their expectations.
Elizabeth Harrold '96 said it was amusing to see the whole class out on the river.But last year, Harrold said the weekend's parties were "more fun than the actual rafting" because of the inclement weather.
Other students were less impressed with the event.
Amanda Maw '96 said she had fun at Tubestock but said it is "definitely overrated."
"It's just a lot of drunk people floating on the water," she said.
And while many sophomores have been looking forward to Tubestock since their freshman trips, there are others who are mode laid back about the whole affair.
Maria Simental '97 said she feels indifferent about the event.
"It's something that will be there to do but I'm not really all that excited about it," Simental said.
Some students see the event as one which will bring their class closer together.
Leo Park '97 said he is looking forward to the weekend as a "fun time to relax with the rest of the class."
Park, a member of Theta Delta Chi fraternity said his house may be building a raft for the event.
Zeta Psi fraternity brother Ku Chung '97 said he is in charge of building his house's flotilla along with Peter Mancoll '97 and Chris Dobbyn '97.
"We're going to try and make it big enough so that people can sit on it, stand on it and maybe even play some games on it," Chung said.
Chung said the fraternity is considering having a ping pong table aboard its raft.
But Chung said Zete has yet to begin to build the raft because it has to be built on-site, down by the river.
"It's actually a lot of work," he said.
The event itself is not an easy thing to put together either.
In past years, Akerboom has paid for an off-duty Norwich police officer to be on-site
Alcohol is not permitted and any possible offenders risk being caught by the State of New Hampshire's Marine Patrol.
FitzSimons said he hopes students will be safe on the water.
"Usually it's kind of a zoo," he said. FitzSimons said it is "amazing" there has not been a death at the event.
Last year one student was injured at Tubestock when his foot was struck by a boat propeller.
In an interview with The Dartmouth last year College Programming Coordinator Linda Kennedy wrote in an electronic-mail message that safety was one of the reasons the College has never considered sponsoring the event.
"The class is for the most part underage and the mixture of a bunch of un-seaworthy vessels (inflatables), some poor swimmers, a river current, cold water, alcohol in unregulated amounts, hot sun and underage people does not make for the kind of environment for a safe event," Kennedy wrote last summer.
Though the party is being provided for them, students must be prepared for the event.
Students can buy inner tubes at Chi Heorot fraternity this afternoon until 8 p.m. for $10 each, or from Hanover Hardware for $5 apiece.
