10 Small Towns : that TV postman says rate some ‘cheers’

On TV’s long-running “Cheers,” John Ratzenberger plays the role of Cliff Clavin, the wiseacre mailman, who apparently has never traveled much beyond his daily route. In reality, Ratzenberger, who left home at 18 and wanted to “lead a romantic life and see all those things I read about in books,” is an experienced traveler. In the early ‘70s, he went to England for a brief vacation, but stayed for 10 years, forming a comedy troupe, “Sal’s Meat Market,” that played throughout England and parts of Europe.

But, before living abroad, Ratzenberger was an itinerant worker, holding such odd jobs as carpenter, blacksmith, a seaman on an oyster boat and, nearer to his profession, a magician with a carnival. “Knocking around a lot” brought the actor to small towns that, he believes, often retain their individuality despite the erosion brought on by the growth of “fast-food chains, shopping malls and TV,” a medium responsible for “homogenizing speech patterns and customs.”

In search of an older America, Ratzenberger and his wife, Georgia, like to travel in their customized van, sometimes revisiting these 10 small towns that remain his personal favorites.

Alton, N.H.--Located on the south tip of Lake Winnepesaukee, the largest lake in the state, Alton is a summer resort. Until recently, Ratzenberger says he owned five acres of land near Alton, which he bought with the winnings of a poker game some years back.

Bearsville, N.Y.--Ratzenberger once worked as a carpenter in Bearsville and recalls some of the idiosyncrasies of village life. One man built his house mostly from discarded Coke bottles and billboards. A woman owned a “five-acre junkyard that Sotheby’s probably bought.” Once Ratzenberger was hired to work as a tractor driver at “some rock concert nearby, which turned out to be the Woodstock Festival.”

Black Rock, Conn.--Ratzenberger was born and raised in Black Rock, which is close to Bridgeport, a “depressing little factory town,” he says. Family members still living in Black Rock make up a third generation. The actor, who attended Sacred Heart University, recalls that Black Rock is a Revolutionary War battle site, where spies would bring information from across Long Island Sound.

Franklin, Pa.--Located on the Susquehanna River, Franklin remains “a pretty Mayberry sort of town. It’s like a museum, reflecting an older society and a way of life we’ll not see again.”

Friday Harbor, Wash.--The county seat of San Juan Island, in the groups of islands between Washington and Victoria, Friday Harbor is a tiny resort town of about 1,200. Lured by the sea and ships, the actor finds this a “good place to get away from the assaults of the world.”

Hermann, Mo.--Settled by German wine makers in the last century, who “didn’t survive the Depression,” Hermann is on the Missouri River. In 1980, it had a population of less than 3,000. Hermann has been a good source for the kind of model-toy antiques that Ratzenberger collects. Besides, “it has the only restaurant that ever moved me to go into the kitchen and congratulate the chef.”

Morrisville, Vt.--A village with a population just over 2,000, Morrisville is in the scenic Green Mountains area in northeastern Vermont. The actor says Morrisville epitomizes yesteryear’s small town because it has a “five-and-dime store, a theater called the Bijou and a church steeple that’s still the highest building around.”

Mystic, Conn.--”Though kind of touristy” today, Mystic, on an inlet emptying into Long Island Sound, has a rebuilt wharf and restored artifacts that sailors once used in their specialties. There’s a cooperage (barrel making and repair) and implements for shipwrights and sail menders. And, Ratzenberger says, the town boasts “the best clam chowder at the Mystic Inn.”

Nantucket Island, Mass.--Despite the influx of summer people and some commercialism, Nantucket “still is a quaint, cobblestone village.” Ratzenberger says, “I love old classic ships, and the entire area is full of classic schooners.” He owns a Grand Banks trawler, the 42-foot Endeavor, which is a duplicate of ships once used for commercial fishing in Newfoundland waters, but today is strictly a pleasure boat berthed in a Southern California yacht harbor.

Santa Barbara--Statistically hardly a small town, Santa Barbara nevertheless is included because “it’s beautifully preserved by the city planners who keep it as it used to be.” Ratzenberger comes here to search out chandleries (boat outfitting and repair services) on the wharf of Santa Barbara’s boat harbor and to hear “that old fellow who sits on the dock and plays harmonica.” Ratzenberger underscores his love of ships by quoting from “The Wind in the Willows”: “There is nothing--absolutely nothing--half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats . . . in or out of ‘em, it doesn’t matter.”