For Roland Miller, it started as a summer job in 1979. Many of his former lifeguards at Six Flags Hurricane Harbor in Valencia said they, too, thought they were just taking summer jobs.
On Saturday, about 30 former Hurricane Harbor lifeguards from the 2000s and 2010s reunited at the park with their families. Many traveled from out of state. Some couples who met on the job later married, and in one family, the next generation has followed in her mom’s footsteps as a lifeguard there.
According to Garrett Myler, who organized the event at a private picnic area in the park, the reunion wasn’t just about reconnecting with old coworkers — it was also about seeing their old boss Miller again. Myler said Miller fostered a family-like environment that made the group feel truly connected, like a real family.
“We would always get together outside after work,” Myler said. “Whether it be at In-N-Out or different house parties, we definitely grew close together working out here.”
After organizing his own 20-year Valencia High School reunion, Myler got to thinking about a Hurricane Harbor lifeguard get-together. He created a group on social media, and then he and a few others got serious about making a gathering a reality.
Brandon Roben took part in the efforts. He came to the reunion with his wife, who he met on the job at Hurricane Harbor. Roben worked under Miller for many years at Hurricane Harbor. He now manages an amusement park in Portland, Oregon.
“It’s called Oaks Park,” Roben said. “It’s a 120-year-old amusement park, and it’s been a nonprofit for 40 years. And I’m the CEO.”
Roben started as a lifeguard at Hurricane Harbor in 2000. He’d come back summer after summer, and he also worked at Magic Mountain as an EMT in the first aid department during the offseason. He worked his way up at Hurricane Harbor. He later worked as a manager at the Hurricane Harbor water park just outside of Washington, D.C.
He then moved to Portland to be closer to family and also start a family of his own. It was Miller who helped Roben get a job as a manager at a water park there, which then led to him getting the current position he has at Oaks Park.
Roben looked back fondly on the time he spent with his fellow lifeguards at Hurricane Harbor.
“Near the end of the day, it was always like, ‘Hey, what are we doing tonight?’” Roben said. “We would just spend these awesome summers with these cool groups of people. You just formed a strong bond with them, and you stay connected.”
When Roben got married, many of his former co-workers from Hurricane Harbor attended, including Miller. Their continued connection didn’t surprise him. Over the years, he’d seen many of his former teammates go on to become doctors and lawyers. He believes lifeguarding was a unique job that helped shape young people into strong leaders.
Jessica Pulice-Zeller, who worked at the park between 2001 and 2008, came from Las Vegas with her family. She currently works as an emergency room nurse. The last time she was at Hurricane Harbor was in 2009. She felt much had changed.
“That’s why I look very lost today,” she said. “I was like, ‘I swear I used to work here.’”
She explained that it was so great to see old friends who have since scattered all over the country. The memories with everyone came flooding back as soon as she saw them again.
Morgan Sommer traveled up from San Diego for the reunion. She worked as a lifeguard at Hurricane Harbor from 2002 to 2011, and she wasn’t the only one in her family to do so. Four of her siblings also worked at the park. On Saturday, three of them — Veta Perdew, Ryan Talianko and Mary Perdew — joined her for the gathering.
Also with them was Sommer’s 17-year-old daughter, Jaycee Perdew, who’s now working her first season at the park. In fact, she took a break from work to come by and say hello.
Sommer said she believes her daughter was drawn to the job after hearing her summer stories — how she and her coworkers would stay over at each other’s houses and build lifelong friendships. Her best summers, she added, were at that park.
“Growing up,” Sommer’s daughter said, “I was always in water parks because she (her mom) was always working at one. I’ve just loved the atmosphere, and I loved the idea of helping other people and guests. I just thought, ‘Hey, my entire family did this. I don’t want to miss out. It would be super fun to do it.’ I decided to sign up, and I think I’ll be coming back again next year.”
So many in the group talked about Miller and how important he was in their lives. Some said it’s a big reason why they came.
Miller joked that he’d paid everyone to say such nice things about him, but the former lifeguards insisted that the skills Miller taught them they continue to use in their personal and professional lives, and how, to some, the lifeguard job remains the best job they ever had.
“I want to give credit to Roland,” Myler said. “Roland — and the supervisors and head guards that he picked — created, I think, such a healthy balance between taking the job seriously, but then also learning to know each other, and appreciate each other, and develop genuine relationships with each other, and I think that started top down with Roland.”
Miller started out as a ride operator at Magic Mountain 46 years ago when he was 20 years old.
“If you ask anybody, most of us say, ‘Oh, it’s a summer job,’” he said. “For me it was a really long summer.”
In 1998, he went over to Hurricane Harbor, and he’s been there since.
Hurricane Harbor opened in 1995, and 2025 marks its 30th anniversary. To mark the occasion, the park underwent extensive renovations. Miller highlighted the updates, including new landscaping, buildings, fresh paint and more. He spoke with pride, as if he were showing off improvements he made to his own home.
On his way to the event, Miller shared how excited he was to see his former lifeguards. As he approached the private picnic area at Paradise Pavilion, he talked about who he expected to be there. He mentioned Myler, who was just a teenager when he worked at Hurricane Harbor and who’s now a father of five.
Myler worked three seasons at the park between 2001 and 2003, and then he returned in 2006 for another season. After graduating from Valencia High School, he studied cyber security in college and enlisted in the United States Air Force. He and his wife and their kids came out to Hurricane Harbor for the reunion from San Antonio, Texas.
“A few of us were Olympic lifeguards,” Myler said. “We had an Olympic team where we competed, and at least my team made it to nationals in San Antonio, Texas. So, a bunch of us were very serious about lifeguarding.”
Myler added that former lifeguards had come to the reunion from all over the country, including places in Florida, Ohio, Las Vegas, Washington and Utah.
He addressed the group during Saturday’s gathering, thanking everyone for making the trip for such a special occasion. He said everyone’s presence was a testament to the lasting impact their time at the park had on their lives. Myler gave much of the credit to Miller.
“I thought it was special for him to see the families and the careers that started — at least in part — from here,” Myler said. “Just this morning, before the park opened, I saw Roland — it looked like the same guy from 20 years ago — with his clamper, picking up trash.”
Myler spoke about how Miller always led by example, instilling customer service skills, a strong work ethic and a genuine interest in others. Myler hoped Miller could see the results reflected in everyone who came back for the reunion.
Miller shared a few words after Myler did, thanking him for his sentiments but also expressing how much it meant to him that so many people came out.
“Thank you so much for putting this together,” Miller said. “I’ve seen faces here I haven’t seen in over 20 years. And now I’m going to start to cry.”
So many of those who came to Hurricane Harbor for a summer job came back again and again.
According to Rick Fiedler, vice president and general manager of the park, that’s not uncommon.
“It’s this type of environment where you have the pleasure of creating experiences that bring families together, and you get to witness it,” he said. “You can walk out into the environment and see a special moment being created, and you know that you played a part in that. That’s what becomes very contagious and why people stick around for so long.”
To the lifeguards at the reunion, Miller was someone who helped create the moments that made their summer jobs unforgettable — moments that grew into lasting friendships and lifelong memories. Many said they returned to Hurricane Harbor as they had so many times before, drawn back not only by the park itself but by the family they found there.
