Last night’s fundraiser for Denver’s sister city of Chennai, India, drew plenty of bold names and media folks to the Denver Press Club last night. Governor Bill Owens stopped in to show his support, and City Councilman Charlie Brown joined Rocky Mountain News columnist Penny Parker behind the bar to sling drinks for the evening — with a bit of assistance from an experienced bartender. I asked Parker what her bartending specialty was. A Pink Squirrel, perhaps? A Grasshopper? Nope. “A glass of wine, preferable with the bottle already open,” she said. We can’t all be multitaskers, I guess.

KHOW radio’s Dan Caplis and Craig Silverman broadcast their entire afternoon show amidst the chaos indoors, while their poor station interns manned a donation station outside the building in the frigid cold (brrr!). A small silent auction took place upstairs, with an autographed book by Sports Illustrated writer Rick Reilly drawing a good deal of attention — almost as much as Reilly himself.

Just don’t ask Reilly if he ever wants to be on Caplis’ show, like one well-meaning radio exec did yesterday. Guess there’s some bad blood there, but the two managed a stiff handshake at the end of the evening. C’mon, guys. It’s for charity, right?

Most of the donated auction items are still available for bidding — check out the online auction at KHOW.com.