MELBOURNE  -  On Friday the 4th of April, the Clifton Hill based Croatian folkloric group ''Mladi Hrvati'' held its annual general meeting for 2008, in which a new board was elected.

Appointed on the new board for 2008 was Veselko Odobasic, who remains the President of the group, whilst the Vice-President for the New Year will be Peter Gelo. The group's head instructor and choreographer will remain Anton Rehlicki, while Barbara Luketic will take on the role of secretary and spokesperson. Elected treasurer Kathy Cvitak will no doubt do a great job, as she will be ably assisted by Ivan Skukan in the vice-treasurer's role.

Lifetime members for the group include: Aleks Kecenovic, Gizela Kecenovic, Marija Rukavina and Simica Petrovic, whilst dancing representative/spokesperson Maja Grgic and working group members Milan Skukan, Ljuba Skukan, Suzana Grgic and Ivanka Odobasic were also nominated.

President Veseljko Odobasic announced to the members present at the AGM and other interested parties that the ''Mladi Hrvati'' is celebrating their 30th anniversary this year and went on to detail some of the events that are scheduled for 2008.

The first performance by the group will be on Saturday the 17th of May at the St. Albans Saints Soccer Club, followed by a performance at Federation Square in Melbourne the next day. A week later, on the 24th of May, the group will perform at the prestigious Ethno Fest at the Macedonian Centre in Sunshine.

It was left to Odobasic to conclude the meeting with a statement thanking everyone involved with the 'Mladi Hrvati' group.

"As the president of the group, I would like to thank the former committee for all of their work in the past and we certainly hope to do a great job this year in what is an important year for the group", Odobasic said (jl).