Lexington Pediatrics’ own Catherine Donato is no professional player. But if baseball fans and others vote her way, she could return to the storied park on May 17th to sing the national anthem at the annual Nurse Appreciation Night. Donato is one of ten finalists competing for the honor. Voting is open online (link here) on the Nurses.org website through Monday, April 10th.
Donato was born and raised in neighboring Bedford, MA. Belting out the tunes came early in life. “I have been singing since I can remember,” she says, “always carrying around my karaoke machine wherever I went.” For the last eight years, Donato worked for Kahootz Entertainment in Boston. “I was the lead female vocalist for a seven-piece band [doing] mostly weddings and private functions.” Since becoming a nurse, she took a step back from singing to recharge and enjoy some free time.
“I actually sang for the Boston Red Sox in May 2021, [but] it was to a pretty empty crowd,” she explains, since it was the day before the return of full capacity seating following COVID. The musically gifted nurse says “the national anthem has always been my favorite ‘gig’ and I have been doing it since high school, any chance I get.”
Donato’s current role at Lexington Pediatrics is her first full-time job after graduating from nursing school last May. “I have enjoyed every second of it,” she exclaims. She hopes that her clients and others in town enjoy enough of her try out tape, too, to vote to send her back to the home plate at Fenway.
I am voting for Catherine Donato