A Nightingale’s Song
Nurse from DAMP program sings National Anthem at Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
By Marsha Canright
FEB. 28, 2007--When the 75th annual Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo opened Feb. 27, UTMB nurse Jill Bryant was in the Reliant arena’s spotlight singing the national anthem to more than 75,000 expected attendees.
Clad in jeans, boots and western wear, she was one of the three sopranos hitting the high notes, singing along with 13 other volunteers who are the rodeo choir. The choral group was selected from more than a hundred hopefuls in a series of auditions.
“It’s an honor, and it’s a lot of hard work,” Bryant said. “We practiced three or four times every week after we were chosen in January, and last Friday, we had our recording session.” The recorded version will accompany the rodeo choir’s live performance on opening night and every night they sing.
Bryant’s role as a singing cowgirl is brand new, but her participation in the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is old hat. She’s been a volunteer at the rodeo’s medical site for the past 12 years and currently serves on the rodeo’s safety committee. During the past three years, she’s been a certified instructor teaching CPR to the staff, and last year, she performed life-saving CPR on a 260-pound rodeo fan who suffered a heart attack during the rodeo.
“The most common medical problem we have at the rodeo can be managed with Band Aids, antiseptic ointment, and Tylenol,” she said. “It’s the blisters on those who aren’t used to wearing their boots,” she explained.
Besides her singing debut this year, Bryant will be on the arena floor taking care of any injured cowboys or cowgirls and will be keeping a watchful eye on the children who participate in the calf scramble. She’ll also be bidding on livestock, and during the first weekend of the rodeo, she’ll be judging the barbeque cook-off.
With all these western skills and credentials you might think that rodeoing has been Bryant’s life-long love. In fact, she’d never been to a rodeo until she moved to Houston almost 26 years ago. The Decatur, Ill., native went to explore the event and basically, fell in love.
“I love being a part of the rodeo,” she said. “I’ve made so many wonderful friends; I’ve built some lasting relationships.”
Back in Illinois, her parents Charles and Kathryn Ernst and her two big brothers, Brad and Lyndell, are somewhat perplexed by her passion for the rodeo but they’ve gotten used to it, she said.
Her brothers still tease her about spending $2,000 with a group of auction bidders to win a champion turkey in last year’s livestock auction. They even said a word or two about “a big turkey” but Bryant takes the ribbing in a good natured way because “my family knows how much the rodeo means to me.” In addition, last year, she contributed $500 toward the purchase of a reserve champion pig during the swine auction.
“The auctions may get expensive but they’re for a good cause,” she said. “I have a lot of fun being a participant and I got a silver belt buckle along with my share of the turkey and pig.”
Bryant is almost as passionate about her role at UTMB working as a nurse in the DAMP program. “Every day I have a chance to help someone who really needs it,” Bryant said. “This is a great institution and we have the opportunity to reach out to people and help them get the medical care they need,” she said.
“It isn’t perfect—the hospital can’t help everyone. But we’re trying very hard to do this right, to be fair.” She is particularly proud of the cancer patient acceptance committee, which she helped to start and which she feels is a “great step in the right direction.”
Bryan isn’t the only UTMB staffer who’s been bit by the rodeo bug. Dr. Michael Ainsworth, faculty member in internal medicine, as well as other physicians, serve on the rodeo’s health committee.
Does she have opening night jitters about singing the national anthem to a record crowd?
“I’m not really nervous—just excited,” she said. “We just might get some help from a professional singer,” she added. “We’re hoping George Strait—who will be performing that night—will come on stage and help us out.”