Positive Thinking:
I just pulled out the program to refresh my memory. Last year it was at Bowie High School (is it there again this year?) which is a very large high school in SW Austin. The program was in the auditorium. Before it started people registered and got name tags (I think the name tags were already made up and that for the appointees the name of the service academy was on the name tag). There was a lot of milling around and introductions. My son had some friends from other high schools going to other academies so we spent time catching up with the parents, etc. in the foyer. Then everyone went into the auditorium. The choir from Camp Mabry sang and there was the presentation of colors, pledge of allegiance and invocation. Sen. Cornyn made some brief remarks. The keynote speaker was Lt. Gen Dave Palmer, who was the superintendent at West Point in the late 80s. He was excellent (I have heard him speak at other functions and he is always good). Then they introduced all of the appointees by service academy. I think they started out with the Air Force Academy and each appointee was announced (name and hometown). As they were announced, they shook hands with Sen. Cornyn and Gen Palmer and then took their place with the rest of the class for their service academy. At the end, all of the appointees from all of the service academies were standing on the stage. it was an impressive sight. (One thing that I particularly remember was that the guys-- and it was all guys- who were going to the Merchant Marine Academy were huge! It looked a big offensive line up there!) Then the choir sang a armed forces medley and as each song was sung the family members of that academy stood up. Afterward, each appointee had their photo taken with Senator Cornyn and Gen. Palmer and we received a copy signed by Sen. Cornyn some weeks later. During the photo session there were refreshments (cake and lemonade, I think) in the foyer and it was another opportunity to meet people.
Last year they asked for people to RSVP ahead of time-- i think that was just to make sure they had enough refreshments and the name tags. There was plenty of room in the auditorium for any last-minute invitee.
Also, I recall thinking at the time that it being on Memorial Day was particularly moving.