People who are interested in working on local environmental concerns can join the Progressive Community Potluck at 5 p.m. tomorrow in the Friends Meeting House, 611 E. Prospect Ave.

The potluck is scheduled to end at 9 p.m.

Vicki Smedley, Green Party candidate for lieutenant governor, will speak at 7:30 p.m. at the potluck.

She will be speaking on her thoughts on progressivism.

Event organizer Laura Silver said the potluck does not support a particular political party.

Silver wanted Smedley to attend because of Smedley's environmental work and her contributions to Pennsylvania.

"She's very knowledgeable, articulate and interested in taking action in the community," Silver said.

The potluck, which has taken place every month since last summer, is designed to fulfill many purposes, Silver said.

"We want to provide a time and place to socialize, network and discuss social and environmental concerns in State College," Silver said.

"We hope to use it as a springboard for community action, possibly petition the Borough Council, protest or support legislation we see as helpful to the community."

Citizens for a Progressive Centre County is the organization in charge of the event. The group has been working on putting the dinner potluck together.

The organization is an informal coalition of people working together in the community, she said.

"It's a loose coalition of many faiths, colors and activists. Progressivism involves people wanting to make a change," Silver said.

"There is no 'us versus them' mentality present. It's very inclusive," Silver added.

The idea for the potluck came from people who are interested in change in the community and want to work together.

They felt they didn't have a way to get involved in the community as a group, Silver said.

"We posted fliers and sent out e-mails to everyone we thought was interested. I've gotten a lot of responses from students as well," Silver said.

"But the main problem with the student response is that they want to take action right away, and we aren't at that stage yet."

Silver said the average size of a potluck meeting has been about 30 people.

Silver expects more people to attend the meeting now that the fall semester has started.

Sam Richards, professor of sociology, said that he sees a need now for the potluck to help bring the community together.

"I've attended before, and it's a good place to sit and talk about things in a new way," Richards said.

"We want to talk about several issues in particular, like peaceful alternatives to the war in Iraq," he said.

"The potluck is a good way to get started, especially for students who live off campus that want to get involved," Richards added.

The potluck is designed to bring a large community like State College together, Silver said.

"I think there is one major divide in this community that keeps people from coming together, which needs to find a resolution," she said.

"Penn State is so corporate. The research there is devoted to military and science, and a liberal arts university that's supposed to be serving a common good should address and stay connected to that."