Aspen's oldest living nurse is Elizabeth Callahan. Now 96 years (1993), Liz remembers that she worked very hard and very long hours—sometimes two or three days in a row without any rest—but that she enjoyed it and that everyone pulled together. Dr. Twining, his wife Maude Twining, Maggie Walsh Magnifico, a practical nurse, and John Crosby, the anesthesiologist with Liz made up the small hospital staff. When Liz came in 1921, she had just completed her nurse's training at St.—Joseph’s Hospital in Denver. Forty-three students started in her class, but only twenty-three graduated. She continued to work at the hospital until 1936, when she left to run the Mesa Store when her brother died. She continued, however, to assist Dr. Twining in surgery for many years when he needed her.

As the only registered nurse at the hospital, she was also responsible for doing all the billing, ordering the groceries, planning the meals, as well as tending a garden at the hospital and canning the vegetables raised in it.

While there is not as much information on Aspen's early environmentalists as there is on those involved in health services, we do know that there was interest on the part of Aspen's early women in beautifying the city. Aspen yards were always filled with flowers. Mrs. Henry Gillespie started a literary society in 1880, which sought to create a cultured and a beautiful environment. During the "Quiet Years," the Women's Civic Improvement League got the town dumps cleaned up and founded what is now Wagner Park. Old timers remember the square block on Main Street across from the Sardy House and between what was then Center and Aspen Streets being covered with huge mounds of dirt that had been dumped there. A group of concerned women got together and arranged to have the block of dirt piles made smooth. Grass was planted and a row of trees was added on the Main Street side.

If the equipment was inadequate, the food certainly wasn't. There were two well-remembered cooks at .the hospital during the "Quiet Years," an Irish woman named Fitzy and Aspen native Lennie Ferguson. The kitchen was in the basement and much of the food they prepared came from the hospital garden, from John Crosby's fishing rod, or from nearby farms. There were always homemade breads and rolls and sometimes glazed donuts. There was gooseberry jam from the bushes along the creek. Fitzy was always known to have fresh cake or pie for a late-night snack if someone brought a nurse back to the hospital after a date in the 40s and 50s.

The September 7, 1891 issue of the Aspen Times chronicles the grand ball that celebrated the opening of the Citizens' Hospital, noting that "...too much cannot be said about the ladies in charge...," Wives of the board members or members of various ladies' societies not only organized the benefit, but were in charge of the permanent decor of the hospital. It was the beginning of a one hundred year old tradition of volunteer service to the hospital. As times got harder in Aspen and at the Citizens' Hospital, the newspapers reported scores of benefits organized by hospital volunteers: a play given in 1912 by members of the Old Maids Club that raised $77.05, a movie at the Isis in 1923 to raise money for coal, a Labor Day dance in 1928.

In 1946, the first annual Hospital Dinner was held. Wild game was served, all donated for the event. It was a well loved aspen tradition well into the 70's. In 1950, the Aspen Thrift Shop was started to help the hospital. In 1960, in the middle of building Aspen's "middle" hospital, the hospital volunteer group was made official by Marge Stein and Betty Mason. They called it the "Blue Ladies" after the uniform they selected. Other founding members were Patsy Pabst, Joy Caudill, Dorcas Houston, and Alice Rachel Sardy. In the beginning, they ran errands, carried trays, answered the phone, handled the flowers, helped with the mail, and took care of patients. In 1977, when the hospital moved to its present location, the Blue Ladies expanded and formed units to better assist in patient care; the information desk, radiology, the lab, the emergency room! physical therapy, and medical records. Also the volunteers have contributed more than $100,000 in medical equipment over the past ten years.

In those days, nurses' duties went far beyond nursing. As the only registered nurse at the hospital, she was also responsible for billing, ordering the groceries, planning the meals, tending a garden at the hospital, and canning the vegetables. At the same time, the facilities and equipment were inadequate. The hospital beds were not the modern version, but were flat and low beds. They had to figure out ways to elevate patients' knees and figure out how to keep them propped up on their sides. It was a real challenge to keep patients comfortable. In Liz Callahan's early days of nursing, most of the babies were born at home, but occasionally a sick mother or baby would need hospital care. Since there was no nursery, other ingenious means were employed. "We didn't have a bassinet, so what I took was a dresser drawer...and put a hard pillow in it for a baby, and we kept the baby in on the operating table because it was warm in the operating room." Liz helped to deliver many of Aspen's residents, and to this day she can remember the exact date of their birth when she sees them.

Elizabeth Paepcke inspired Aspen environmentalists through her 1968 donation of land to create the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies at Hallam Lake. Many other Aspen women have dedicated their energy and time to preserving, protecting, and beautifying Aspen and its environs for all the years that it has been in existence.