Laconia Harley-Davidson crew remembers Collin Zaremba as a friend, passionate rider

MEREDITH — Employees at Laconia Harley-Davidson are fundraising to put new riders through their training course, in memory of an employee who died in a motorcycle accident this summer.

Collin Zaremba, 25, of Belmont, died after his motorcycle collided with the back of a pickup truck as both vehicles were traveling east along Mount Major Highway near the western entrance of Route 11D in Alton in July. Zaremba was transported to a hospital where he later died, according to police. 

Now, his coworkers, who remember him for his relentless enthusiasm, genuine love for the sport and for his infectious laugh, have organized a fundraising effort to install a brick in his memory at the Harley-Davidson corporate headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and sponsor new riders through their Riding Academy, a complete motorcycle endorsement course which takes place at their Lakes Region store. 

“When we were thinking, grieving, having conversations, the things we remember most about him were the times he was most excited,” Madeline Stack, marketing manager, said Friday morning. “He loved when people would go through the Riding Academy here.”

The Riding Academy offers new riders an opportunity to learn the basics and rules of motorcycle riding. Laconia Harley-Davidson offers several three-day courses throughout the spring, summer and fall, and riders who complete it earn their motorcycle endorsement. That course costs $399. When riders successfully complete the course, they enter the showroom and ring a bell. That was, according to his coworkers, one of Zaremba’s favorite moments of the day.

“That was always one of the best parts of his day,” Stack said. 

Assistant Sales Manager Richard Osburn, who was also a friend to Zaremba, said Zaremba’s mother Betty was a driving force behind the memorial fundraiser, asking employees not to send her flowers but to send riders through the course instead. 

“His mom was a big part of it, too,” Osburn said. “Put someone through the Riding Academy instead.”

Zaremba had a particular passion for the course, encouraging others, including three of Betty’s friends, to sign up and complete it. 

“He was always trying to bring new people into the sport,” Osburn said.

At various times, Zaremba, who worked at Laconia Harley-Davidson for three years, owned a Fat Bob and a Road Glide, both iconic Harley-Davidson models. 

Cheyenne Smith runs the Riding Academy course at Laconia Harley-Davidson and grew up with Zaremba. She called him a “fun goofball,” adding there was almost nothing he wouldn’t do. They were neighbors as kids in Laconia.

“There was never a dull moment,” she said Friday morning. “His laugh is the funniest thing.”

Stack said Zaremba’s laugh reminds her of a famous cartoon character. 

“I think of the classic Goofy laugh,” she said. 

Smith started working for Laconia Harley-Davidson after participating in a Riding Academy course. One of the instructors offered her the job.

“We start from the very basics,” Smith said, likening the process to a sort of “motorcycle petting zoo.”

“It was wonderful.”

Employees who knew Zaremba are already making great progress in their initial fundraising efforts. They’ve raised about $3,000, more than enough to finance the $500 personalized brick at Davidson Park and to put a handful of new riders through the training course, too. 

“We raised enough funds to purchase the brick already,” Stack said. “Davidson Park is a gathering place for people who love to be on two wheels.”

While his memory will live on in Milwaukee forever, it may survive even longer among the staff at Laconia Harley-Davidson. Remembering the raucous events of Laconia Motorcycle Week this summer, Stack said Zaremba got his first tattoo right there in the shop from Nick James of North Street Salem, a tattoo shop in Salem, Massachusetts. He got Harley-Davidson’s signature “1” emblem memorialized on his person.

Stack, Osburn and Smith each said they’d like to ride out to Milwaukee one day to visit Zaremba’s brick in person, potentially during one of Harley-Davidson’s homecoming weeks.

“We would all love to get out there someday and see the brick,” Stack said. 

Looking forward, Stack said their goal is to organize an annual fundraiser in Zaremba’s memory and in partnership with North Street Salem, which donated 30% of the proceeds from a Harley-Davidson event earlier this year to the Collin Zaremba Memorial Fund.

“Collin passed doing what he loved. There is no doubt that Harley-Davidson motorcycles were a huge passion of his. If it was a nice day, it was a guarantee he would be on two-wheels,” Stack wrote in an email. “If he thought it was nice enough to ride, and you didn't, you'd hear him say, 'I'm surprised you didn't ride today.'”