Memorial ride for Freshwater RNC officer going ahead over weekend
By Mark Squibb
September 15, 2023
The Newfound Riders 20th annual Constable Sam Jeffers’ Memorial Motorcycle Ride will be going ahead this Saturday, September 16.
Jeffers, who hailed from Freshwater, near Carbonear, was seriously injured while on duty in a motorcycle accident at Rawlins Cross in St. John’s in 1957. At the time, helmets were not worn. Constable Jeffers never recovered from his head injuries, and he spent the next 43 years at the Waterford Hospital until his passing on September 4th, 2000.
The ride will commence at 9 a.m., and participants will leave the Peace and Police Officers’ Monument located at Confederation Building’s East Parking Lot at 10 a.m. Participants will then ride to Monty’s in Whitbourne, along with a police escort, via the TCH and then across the Tilton barrens to Carbonear.
Riders will meet with Carbonear Frank Butt at the Town Hall and then ride through Freshwater, past the former home of Sam Jeffers (now owned by Jeffers’ aunt) before returning to the Town Hall parking lot. From there, the riders will return to St. Johns.
In 2013, the Newfound Riders commissioned a bronze plaque commemorating Jeffers that folks can visit at the Conception Bay Regional Community Centre in Carbonear.
Proceeds from the Constable Sam Jeffers’ Memorial Motorcycle Ride, including donations and registration costs, are donated to the Newfoundland and Labrador Police and Peace Officers’ Memorial Association (NLPPOMA)in memory of Constable Sam Jeffers, and will be used to maintain memorials such as the one erected in Carbonear.