When Ryan Miller heard that Quarry Park, the 13 million dollar up and coming theme park in Rocklin, needed a face for their advertising campaign, he didn’t miss a beat. Ryan, a freshman at Rocklin High School, auditioned in November with over 200 individuals and families looking to become ‘The face of Quarry Park.’

The contest explained on abc10.com revealed that the winner would “appear in Quarry Park Adventures’ promotional campaign next year, which includes spots on TV, radio, print and social media.”

With the other 200 plus hopefuls, Ryan waited in line at the future site of Quarry Park to walk up to a platform with oversized cameras, overwhelming lights, and a big baby blue backdrop sporting the Quarry Park Adventures logo.

“Waiting in line to audition, I was very confused and curious because on their website they said participants would have to show a talent of theirs, and I didn’t really have anything prepared” Ryan explained.

“I was nervous, but afterwards I felt it went really well because the whole place just had a good vibe. I didn’t want to think that I was going to win because that would have set me up for disappointment, but in the back of my head I was always hoping I’d get the chance.”

In late November, judges reviewed all the auditions and selected the ten best participants to include in a final round. Instead of auditions, this time, there was a website where all of the city of Rocklin could vote for their favorite finalist. Ryan was up against three families, two sets of sisters, and four individuals to see who could get the most votes by a certain date.

The catch was: there were unlimited votes per device, so participants could vote as much as they wanted all day.

During the voting time frame, Ryan says “I posted on all my social media to get my friends to vote, and my family made it a routine to keep our phones open to the voting page while doing everything during the day. After voting so many times on a certain device, for some reason, the votes stopped counting so we had to troubleshoot by switching the wifi we used and finding different devices. It was chaotic at times.”

But when it was all said and done, Ryan came out on top with over 22,000 votes.”I was in eighth grade at the time, in my history class, and I looked at my phone and saw my mom had texted me I’d won. It was silent in the class, so I just had to silently congratulate myself by pumping my first in the air. It felt really good to win after so much time spent voting and preparing for the audition.”

While the park was first expected to open in June, then July, then August, unexpected delays caused the city of Rocklin to now announce the opening date to be towards the beginning of September.

According to the Sacramento Bee, “Quarry Park Adventures, which is being constructed in Big Gun Quarry, will feature zip lines, giant swings, free-fall jumps and boating, the park’s website said. The attractions will make use of the quarry walls, floor and rim, as well as a 2- acre lake and 60-foot waterfall.”

Plans look great for the park and this new attraction is sure to be a popular destination for Rocklin locals and more.

As for Ryan, he says “I’m very excited for what’s to come. Hopefully the park turns out really well, especially the advertising, so come to Quarry Park Adventures!”