It is my honor and distinct pleasure to welcome you to our annual New Year's Ball "Malanka". The beauty of this event is in the opportunity for our members, friends and benefactors to symbolically welcome the New Year and all the hope and promise that it brings. We begin the New Year with some good news! As most of you may already know, our oseredok was awarded the "Perechodovyj Prapor", the highest award for the best and most active oseredok in the United States during the course of the last three years. This award was presented during the "Kajovyj Zjizd" in Ellenville, N.Y., which took place October 15-16, 2006. We would not have earned this distinction without the cooperation and participation of each and every one of you! On behalf of the "CYM" board, we thank all of our active members, "vychovnyky", "vporyadnyky", parents of our youth and all of our benefactors for their enthusiasm, efforts and dedication which are constantly put into our youth programs, various projects and the preparation of our oseredok events. Also, we thank our spiritual fathers for their prayers and words of advice, as well as our Ukrainian financial institutions and organizations for all their moral and financial support in all our work and initiatives. We welcome and extend our congratulations and warmest best wishes to this year's debutantes. With joy and pride we join their families and friends in celebrating their spirit, beauty, grace and talents. We wish them God's blessings, happiness, wisdom, strength and courage as they forge their way into adulthood. May they realize their full potential and take their place among those who will make the world a better place to live in.

At this time, I would like to recognize and offer my sincere thanks to all of the members of the "Malanka" Committee. Your dedication, time and effort have made this evening a wonderful and memorable one for all present. On behalf of the Board of the Mykola Pavlushkov branch of the American Ukrainian Youth Association in Chicago, I would like to thank everyone for joining us this evening. May God's richest blessings be upon you both today and throughout the year - and may those blessings flow through you to touch the lives of everyone you meet. As we enter the New Year we renew our commitment to the development of Ukrainian youth based on a program of love for God and Ukraine.

Mario Kolody
President