Best live philanthropist

The widow of Bob Magness, legendary founder of cable company TCI, Sharon Magness is one society lady who's concerned with more than just fashion shows and stuffy luncheons -- though she seems to like those, too -- and she's become Denver's go-to woman for those in need. While Magness is involved with many of the groups traditionally patronized by Denver's elite, including the Denver Art Museum and the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, she also gave $250,000 to the campaign to replace the library at Columbine High School after the parents of the massacre victims asked the community for help, as well as millions to Volunteers of America, which works with the homeless, the elderly and the destitute. It's this attention to the most vulnerable Denverites that sets Magness apart from the rest. Well, that and her tendency to arrive at black-tie dinners astride her Arabian horse Thunder, the Broncos' mascot.