OLD TOWN – A celebration in honor of the late Doris Twitchell Allen, founder of Children’s International Summer Villages, will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, July 20, in Riverfront Park.

Allen, an Old Town native, University of Maine graduate, child psychologist, teacher of psychodrama and founder of CISV, died in March 2002 at the age of 100.

She left behind a worldwide organization dedicated to the idea that peace comes through understanding and friendship and that “the power of love is stronger than the love of power.”

Allen organized the first CISV village, held in Cincinnati, in 1951. Since then, hundreds of villages have been held to show children from all over the world how alike they are to each other.

This summer, CISV-Maine is hosting a village with children from 12 countries.

On Saturday, the Maine Chapter of CISV will host a celebration to honor Allen and visiting family members. Organizers said all who remember Allen, past CISV delegates and families, Kaleidoscope Village participants and all community supporters of CISV are invited to share the CISV spirit of peace through friendship.

Local disc jockey Dale Saucier will help set the mood by playing music spanning the years of Allen’s life. Children from Old Town’s CISV village will present songs and dances, and a northern red oak tree will be planted and dedicated to Allen.

A colleague of Allen described her as “a Maine treasure who affected and changed the world with her kindness and vision. She could see the world as a child even in her 80s and 90s.”

For more information, contact John and Katie Greenman at 827-7014.