Thursday, October 1, 2026
The Freeport-Merrick Rotary Club held its annual Installation Dinner at local restaurant Bobby Q’s Jus Like Mama’s, to recognize its three new incoming officers for the next year. Former club secretary Kerry Esmay officially accepted her new position as president alongside Ari Case and Marc Rigueur, who were installed as secretary and treasurer respectively on June 18.
Esmay has been with the club since 2023 and has remained very engaged in volunteer opportunities as a member and officer of the club, while working as a capital markets specialist. Case is a Long Beach resident who is an entrepreneur and IT consultant when he is not serving with the Rotary. Rigueur, an owner of an accounting firm, has been a member of the Freeport-Merrick Rotary for five years and has served as club president previously.
In addition to celebrating the club’s new officers, dinner attendees also celebrated the charitable service work that the Freeport-Merrick Rotary completed over the past year and the addition of five new members to the club, bringing its total membership to 22.
Joining in on the celebration was Nassau County Legislator Debra Mulé, who awarded special citations to Esmay, Case and Rigueur for their commitment to continuing the Rotary’s important work in Freeport, Merrick and nearby communities. She specifically praised the club for its recent service that helped provide homeless veterans on Long Island with various essentials.
“I know that that’s just one example of the fine work that you do in our community,” Mulé said. “You’ve been able to keep going, and continuing this work is something that’s just really special.”
During the Installation Dinner, Comfort Itoka, who served as the club’s president for the 2025-26 year, praised the work Esmay has already done as a part of the club, and said that she expects the club to “continue to thrive” under Esmay’s leadership. When asked what advise she has for Esmay, Itoka said it was important for her to avoid becoming discouraged.
“There’s a lot of work behind it because you have to step up,” Itoka explained. “It will be a little more challenging for Kerry, because she has a young family that she has to support. …It’s my goal to help Kerry because she will need the support.”
Esmay, who is a Merrick resident, said that she already has several ideas that she plans to discuss with her fellow officers and Rotary members that will build on the success the club experienced this past year. Incorporating more service projects for Merrick communities is also a priority for her since much of the club’s work is Freeport-focused.
“We set some ambitious goals last year, and Comfort was able to achieve every single one of them, which is very impressive,” Esmay said. “I think that we will continue to build on those goals that we set in terms of trying to bring in more members so that we can do more service projects and more work in terms of the number and types of service projects that we do.”
You can learn more about how to join the Freeport-Merrick Rotary’s service projects and membership by visiting their website, freeportmerrickrotary.org.
