The Midcoast Outreach and Peace Center will host an open house to launch the new center 1:30-3 p.m., May 4 from at the Quaker Meetinghouse, 77 Belvedere Road in Damariscotta. The opening includes an ice cream social with tours, games for children, Maine-made ice cream and fruit desserts.

The center, a project of Midcoast Monthly Meeting of Friends (Quakers), will be open throughout the year from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays. The outreach program features workshops, dinners and events for families, as well as lectures and programs on peace and environmental issues, films, art exhibitions, discussion groups, special topic lectures for seniors and gardening activities.

The facilities include indoor spaces for community classes and projects, a peace library, outdoor play equipment for young children and Wi-Fi services.

Susan Rockwood, the center’s new outreach coordinator, has extensive experience creating programs for K-through-eighth grade students and with administering programs for adults. For more than 15 years, she was a classroom and media information teacher at the Greenwood Friends School in Pennsylvania.

This summer she will be conducting Internet classes, workshops on blogging and a course on how to be “media savvy.” This spring and summer, programs for children will include nature walks, afternoon game times, movies and water play events. “We are also planning family barbecues and dinners,” said Rockwood, who notes that the center will supply the games and food.

James Matlack, the new head of the center’s program committee, will help with the development of the center’s programs. Matlack, who is a lifelong Quaker, taught at colleges and universities for 15 years.

The center was established to serve people who are interested in learning about and participating in activities that emphasize values, concerns about peace and ways to build strong communities.

The Midcoast Outreach and Peace Center’s spring ice cream social is open and free to the public. Please contact Sue Rockwood at 207-350-2256 or email midcoastcenter@gmail.com, if you have questions or for additional information.