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MIFFLIN -- The opening Sunday of the Tuscarora Academy Museum will be held June 4 from noon to 5 p.m. with the recently returned historical items to be showcased.
The three returned items are a Sharpe flintlock pistol that had been in the Culbertson family for 200 years before being donated to the society, a Colt 45 that was used in World War I by Alfred J. Bartran, also donated by Viola Culbertson and an Albert System fife used by Civil War veteran J. Marshall Donnelly of East Waterford.
This will be a one-day-only display of the returned antiques at the museum and it will also be the debut of the new Doty Room permanent exhibit.
The opening ceremony will begin at 12:30 p.m. with welcoming remarks by museum curator Jessica Guyer and introduction of guests. Invitees include those on the law enforcement team who made the return of these items possible.
Expected to be at the press conference (to be held under the tent) are case investigators Detective Brendan Dougherty and Detective Andy Rathfon both of the Upper Merion Township Police Department, Assistant U.S. Attorney K.T. Newton, retired PA State Trooper Jerry Eaton (Thompsontown) who filed a police report when the theft occurred in 1979.
Newton, prosecutor with the U. S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, has worked with the Philadelphia-based FBI Art Crime Team agents and is currently the acting chief of the Corruption Unit.
She will speak about the case and answer questions along with Detectives Dougherty and Rathfon and Trooper Eaton.
Other invited honored guests include state Senator Judy Ward, state Representative Perry Stambaugh and Juniata County Commissioners, Mark Partner, Alice Gray, and Todd Graybill. Also invited are Juniata County District Attorney Corey Snook and state Representative Fred Noye, who was state representative when the theft occurred.
Tuscarora Academy is located at 472 Academy Rd. in Mifflin.
The Tuscarora Academy is open every Sunday through the end of August. Normal hours are 1:30-4 p.m.