January 12, 2008

Greetings from our holova:
Dear Sumivtsi, Debutantes, Escorts, Honored Parents and Guests:

It is my honor and great pleasure to welcome you to our annual New Year's Eve Ball, "Malanka." It's that time of year again and I am sitting and thinking about what topic is most appropriate and applicable to the debutantes before us this year? Reviewing what I know about these young ladies, what is the common thread between them? They are young, they are beautiful, they are Sumivtsi, and most of their royi are floral names ...Fiyalky...Chwit Paporod...and then we have the Mesnyky, who actually deliver the flowers to the intended recipients. This bouquet of ladies before us is similar and yet different, these young ladies represent the love, devotion and dedication that their parents bestowed upon them to grow and to flourish. They have been pampered and cared for, and must now step out, as adults, into society and demonstrate the lessons they have learned. This bouquet must now 'make their parents proud' and continue to grow and develop, nourish the spirit, and maintain a healthy growing environment.

This celebration provides 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 our youth and we must continue to nourish and nurture to remain on the solid foundation built by our fathers and forefathers. During this past year, we commemorated the 70th anniversary of Mykola Pawlushko's tragic death, the 65th anniversary of the creation of UPA - the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, and the 75th anniversary of the Ukrainian Holodomor, which we will continue to commemorate into 2008. These commemorations are not pleasant, but they are necessary to remember to define who we are, where we came from and what we stand for. The same is true today, as we continue to solidify our foundation and move forward, continuously securing our future under the motto "God and Ukraine". This is only possible through the efforts of our youth members and the trust of their parents, 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. 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 well and look forward to their continued development and successes! These young ladies gathered together in a multi-floral bouquet are ready for delivery into adulthood. Today their parents stand proudly and admire their flowers, looking forward to their future while, gently, yet reluctantly, sending them into the world. 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: Take your place in society, drawing only from the positive energy and positive experiences around you and choose those friends who share your convictions and beliefs -- and you will make this world a better and more pleasant place. The future is yours for the taking!

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 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. As we move into the New Year, we promise to work hard to continuously develop Ukrainian youth by reinforcing and cementing our foundation based on a program of love of God and Ukraine.