It is my honor and great pleasure to welcome you to our annual New Year's Eve Ball, "Malanka." In Roman mythology, the first month of the year is symbolized by Janus, the two-faced head looking forward and backward - new beginnings and past accomplishments. Similarly, with our celebration of the arrival of the New Year, we reflect upon our work throughout the year, reminiscing over our accomplishments, while looking forward - ready to welcome new challenges and opportunities. This celebration presents a unique opportunity for our members, friends and benefactors to jettison into the New Year filled with eternal hope and promise for continued success and new adventures.

Our future is built on a solid foundation. During this past year, we completed and blessed the new chapel in Baraboo, Wisconsin; and the women of the Organization for the Defense of the Four Freedoms for Ukraine, Alla Horska Chapter, refurbished and rededicated the monument to the 500 who died in Kingir. In retrospect, we continue to solidify our foundation. Today, we move forward, continuously securing our future under the motto "God and Ukraine". This is only possible through the efforts of our youth members, energized by and through the hard work and dedication of our vychovnyky and vporjadnyky. We thank you, we support your efforts and we wish you countless successes in your future endeavors.

On behalf of the SUM board, we thank each and every one of you for your support; we thank our members for their commitment; we thank the parents for their cooperation; and we thank our benefactors for their enthusiastic support and belief in our organization. We thank our spiritual fathers for their continuous prayers and guidance, as well as our Ukrainian financial institutions and organizations for their moral and financial support in our work and initiatives.

In celebrating the arrival of the New Year, we also celebrate the introduction of our young ladies into adult society. We welcome and congratulate our debutantes ...we wish them everything wonderful and look forward to their continued development and successes! These young ladies symbolize a sculpture, a work of art, patiently molded and guided by their parents. Today these parents stand proudly by their treasures, looking forward to their future while, gently, yet reluctantly, breaking the mold allowing the sculpture to be free. We celebrate the parents and we celebrate the debutantes - their spirit, grace, beauty and talents. May God bless them and give them the wisdom and courage to stand firm in their convictions on their journey through adulthood

Dear Debutantes, Reach for the stars; they are yours for the taking. Be strong and firm. Take your place in society, drawing from those who foster positive energy and those who share your convictions and beliefs - and you will make this world a better and more pleasant place. You are the future!

Finally, I would like to recognize and offer my sincere gratitude to all the members of the "Malanka" Committee. Your dedication, time and effort have made this evening a wonderful and memorable occasion for everyone here. On behalf of the Board of the Mykola Pawlushkov Branch of the American Ukrainian Youth Association in Chicago, I would like to thank everyone for joining us this evening. May God bestow upon you his richest blessings today and forever and through you to the world As we move into the New Year, we promise to work hard to continuously develop Ukrainian youth by reinforcing and cementing our foundation basedon a program of love of God and Ukraine.