People

: Courtland D. Barnes, Jr.; Courtlandt D. Barnes, Jr., was elected Chairman of the Board in 1952 of the newly formed Music Associates of Aspen. From New York, Barnes was a Yale graduate and a Wall Street stockbroker who also served as a Trustee of two music schools and Director of the Symphony Society. As a pianist himself, he felt the Music School was for the students- who were the most important element, even more so than the Festival itself, which he was an avid attendee. His Aspen home was the historic Highland Ranch at the confluence of Conundrum and Castle Creeks and the birthplace of Aspen Skiing and the original ski lodge. He lived there, hosting many dinners until 1963 when they sold the ranch and moved to Missouri Heights near Basalt. Barnes not only served as Chairman for 25 years, but was considered one of the Festival’s best fundraisers, sharing his passion for music and students. He passed away in 2011. – Photo: Aspen Historical Society, Durrance Collection

: Courtney Willis; 2012 Cattlemen's Days Junior Miss, 2014 Cattlemen's Days Princess. Daughter of Denny and Jackie Willis, sister to Amanda Willis (Jr. Miss, Cattlemen's Days 2014). (source: http://www.cattlemensdays.com/2014-cattlemens-days-royalty/)

: Craig Bonnefield "Bonnie" Aupperle; He came to Grand Junction from Iowa in 1904 as a boy of 9 or 10, and attended grade school there. As a boy, he worked odd jobs: mowing lawns, landscaping, washing windows, shoveling walks, etc. He also went to vaudeville shows, snuck into carnivals and fairs, stole ice cream and pies off of porches and window sills, played games like Duck On a Rock, swam, and got in fights. After high school, he left to attend college. He finished college in 1916, and returned to Grand Junction. At that time, suffering from what he described as Nervous Prostration, he elected to take a series of jobs in trading and labor, rejecting the kind of office or intellectual job his parents wished for him. He sold dairy bulls, life insurance, fruit and vegetables, and firewood. He also traded horses. He knew John Otto and many other people in Mesa County, and had a wealth of knowledge about the county's history.