Mic'd Up

A true story about winning the jackpot.

Buy the damn ticket.
Tack on more days if you win,
because you will regret it if you don’t.

Roxann Vistocci

Before I bury the lead 6 feet deep, let me say this: FIJI RAFFLE TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE THIS YEAR! Get them here.

And now, back to my regularly scheduled rambling.

You may have heard of the KOTO Famous Fiji Raffle… to enter, it costs $10. If you win, you’re off to a tropical paradise with turquoise waters for a 6 day, 5 night vacation at the fabulous Koro Sun Resort & Rainforest Spa in Savusavu, Fiji.

I’m sorry, did you say something? Oh, you said it’s soooo expensive to get there. We agree. So we’re throwing in $1,500 to help with travel expenses. Once you arrive, you’ll be provided transportation to and from the airport and breakfast daily. You’ll also be treated to other perks like snorkeling right off the porch of your bure. What does bure mean? It means you’re living the dream.

I know what you’re thinking — it sounds too good to be true. Surely no one ever wins with one $10 entry! You probably have to spend at least a hundred bucks to stand a chance. I would be skeptical if I were you, too. But here’s the thing: I’ve seen the miracle of the KOTO Fiji Raffle unfold in real life and I’m here to whisper in your ear: 

Wait. Come closer, closer…

This could be you.

In fact, almost every winner has been a local, someone just like me and you. And in some cases, they bought a single ticket. One minute they’re sluggin’ beers at the Buck, promising that random friend they’ll take him if they win. The next, they’re runnin’ it back because they did win. And they sure ain’t taking that random friend to Fiji! 

One year, and I won’t name names, a board member who was selling raffle tickets at Street Dance won. That put an end to staff being able to participate. Forever.

The only non-local I recall was in 2023, when a woman from Vail won. We announced her name and it was crickets; you could hear a pin drop. And then, all of a sudden, we could see a head bobbing through the crowd like a shark fin, parting the pink sea. She was waving her winning ticket in the air as she tried to get to the stage. It reminded me of Jenny in that scene from Forrest Gump. You know the one. 

Point of all this? Buy a ticket. Buy 100! The odds are good and it goes to a supreme cause — KOTO’s equipment fund. This fund will never not need money. It paid for almost the entirety of the Ouray County signal expansion project and has replaced studio consoles, transmitters and other items over the years.

I spend much of my commute to and from Telluride dreaming about Fiji. Can you imagine what it would be like to win? I’d have my bag packed, bikini waxed and plane snacks before you could say “Savusavu.” 

But we don’t even have to imagine; I got a first-person account from a former KOTO DJ. Remember the Wildcard Show with DJ Roxology? She was on from 2017 until about 2021. Well, her significant other won the raffle in 2019. He promptly bailed on that random friend and took her on the trip of a lifetime… eventually.

Here’s their story.

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Roxy, walk us through details of Aidan winning the KOTO Famous Fiji Raffle at Street Dance in April 2019. How did it all go down?

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You planned your trip for exactly one year later, which would have been early off season 2020. I think we all know how this story goes.

But you went eventually! I hope? Otherwise I just wasted a lot of time on a very self-indulgent intro for this story.

We did finally end up going in 2023! The entire experience was surreal. The itty bitty 14-seater plane that we took from Nadi to Savusavu was an adventure excursion in and of itself. We flew so low over the incredible landscape of Fiji and could see the pilot’s every maneuver. Though slightly puckery — that’s our type of fun!

The resort grounds were incredible and our ventures into the town of Savusavu and beyond opened our senses to some Fijian sites and delicacies. We visited shops and a local market where we purchased kava root to present to the village elder before enjoying a gorgeous waterfall and swimming hole. 

We snorkeled and kayaked from the back porch of our over-the-water bure (magical number 9!) and went on an incredible dive facilitated by Dive Savusavu, a locally owned dive shop. Meeting Savusavu-born and raised owner Rodney Simpson and hearing his account of how Fijians came together during the almost two-year shutdown was heart-warming. Fijians are so kind and so proud of their culture; it was wonderful to chat with them and get to know them.

We rode bikes, attended Fijian demonstrations, ate great food and of course indulged in some tropical cocktails. We got massages, did some hiking, and did a fair bit of pinching ourselves while taking in the picturesque scene from our bure.

Our only regret was not tagging on a couple of extra days to our 5-night stay. Koro Sun and Fiji was so magical; we know we will be back. 

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Wow. I’m convinced you found a portal to another dimension. If staff wasn’t disqualified from entering, I’d empty my bank account.

Yes. Buy the damned ticket. Tack on more days if you win, because you will regret it if you don’t. Get to know the locals and participate in their demonstrations and excursions. Thank you to KOTO (we love you forever) and to the generous owners of Koro Sun Resort (we hope you received our thank you card!) This June marks two years since our trip to Fiji and our engagement.

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Wait, rewind. What? Engagement?

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And I still managed to bury the lede. Congrats, Roxy & Aidan! Winners of the KOTO Famous Fiji Raffle (and life in general.) I’ll say it one more time, readers:

This could be you.