Seven months after seven motorcyclists—including a former Haverhill resident—of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club were killed, victims are remembered by silhouettes of five motorcycles near the crash site in Randolph, N.H.
Not long after the accident, Tim Soucy, who works for Summit Metal Fabricators in Plaistow, N.H., began discussing a permanent memorial for the Fallen 7. Soucy, in respect for the military and wanting to help family, friends and survivors asked if his employer would donate the materials and if he would provide the manpower for the project. Summit was on board and within 24 hours, Soucy was networking with others who wanted to participate.
“I realized really quick that there were a lot of families involved that were going to need financial assistance. My whole thought process right from the get go was to try and provide something for free, so that any money that was raised could go directly back to the people who needed it the most.”
Last June 21, the seven motorcyclists were killed and three others severely injured when a pick-up truck hauling a flatbed trailer crossed the double line and hit the riders in Randolph, N.H. Losing their lives were Albert Mazza of Lee, N.H., formerly of Haverhill; Desma Oakes of Concord, N.H.; Aaron Perry of Farmington, N.H.; Michael Ferazzi of Contoocook, N.H.; Joanne and Edward Corr of Lakeville, Mass.; and Daniel Pereira of Riverside, R.I.
Soucy’s vision for the memorial included five motorcycle silhouettes, each crafted from solid steel and set on a solid steel plate. Each of the five bikes were cut out from a plasma machine and hand-painted with the exact color of each motorcycle. In addition, each was adorned with one or two sets of wings, signifying the number of riders on the bike at the time of the crash.
The silhouettes appear to be traveling down the highway and are in order of seniority within the motorcycle club. The attention to detail on this project was so precise that two days before the unveiling, one of the bikes was completely repainted when it was found the color did not exactly match the actual motorcycle. The project encompasses 4,000 pounds of steel, it is 30-feet long and 5-feet wide.
In building the memorial, materials either came from Summit or were donated by Sherwin Williams Paint, Blinn’s Auto Body shop, Dan Byron, Bill Watson and others.
Future plans include possibilities of additions to the memorial making access easier. Soucy said, “The owner of the Mount Jefferson View Motel wanted to have a parking area put in. Justin from Recycled Percussion (band) graciously said he would write a personal check to pay for it. So that will happen in the Spring time. We may put some benches up for people to come and sit.”
Soucy was adamant in noting the significance of this tragedy. He said, “This is their (the motorcycle community) tragedy. From day one, all of us involved at Summit and anyone that worked on this, we all said we were not doing this for us, we were not doing this for public notoriety. This was for family members, friends, survivors who remember the ones who were lost. This was one of the biggest accidents to ever happen in the state of New Hampshire.”
Soucy and others volunteered to work after hours and during their own time for several months to complete the project. All told, there were approximately 1,300 volunteer hours invested in this memorial.
Soucy plans to maintain the memorial to ensure they stay presentable and clean. The silhouettes have been kept in a position, 16 feet from the road, to avoid any salt spray, but to also to abide by state law. Soucy stated if something were to happen then he would be there to fix it.
Besides Soucy, those involved in fabrication and prep work included Ashley LeClair, CJ Hart, Justin Kimball, Caleb Sine, Gregg Geer, John Varieur, Shayne Lavoie, Josh Viens-Lavee and Matt Tervo. Other volunteers included Dan Byron of Atkinson, N.H., airbrush artwork and inscription of names on each motorcycle; Sherwin Williams of Manchester, N.H., donated primer and zinc coat supplies; John Blinn Jr. of Blinn’s Auto Body of Plaistow, N.H., provided the clear coating; Bill Walton of Methuen Construction drove the memorial to Randolph, N.H., and Pro Quip of Plaistow, N.H., donated use of their lull to off-load the memorial; and the owner of Mount Jefferson View Motel and Cabins let many people working on this memorial stay for free.
The location of the memorial is on the grounds of the Mount Jefferson View Motel and Cabins in Randolph, N.H., and visible to travelers on Route 2.
Those wishing to learn more or lend support to those affected by this accident may visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/jarheads-mc-victims-and-families-support.