Get Ready for Ratzenberger: Actor Previews His Talk in KC

The feisty and passionate John Ratzenberger is looking forward to meeting members of the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association. He chatted with Shortliner this week to offer a quick preview of what we'll hear in Kansas City.

Ratzenberger, also known as mail carrier Cliff Clavin in the NBC series Cheers, wants to express to members his appreciation for the work you do. He wants to use his celebrity status to call attention to how essential it is. And, he wants to issue a call of action to each of you to get involved in your communities to re-introduce industrial arts in schools.

Ratzenberger grew up in Bridgeport, Conn., which he describes as "the jewel in the crown of the industrial northeast."

"Growing up," he said, "I was surrounded by people who knew how to make things. My heroes were the machinists, carpenters, plumbers, pipefitters …"

Ratzenberger tells his audiences: "If every actor, celebrity and sports hero disappeared tomorrow, our families would be sad, but that's about it. But if every machinist, welder, and fabricator disappeared, our civilization would grind to a halt."

He worries, in fact, that without a renewed focus on the industrial arts in schools, our civilization may already be threatened with a slowdown.

"Unfortunately, we're graduating kids from high school that don't know how to read a ruler let alone operate a channel lock," he said. "If we wait much longer, it's going to be too late to fix our infrastructure."

Earlier this year, Ratzenberger donated $1 million to schools in Georgia to reinstate industrial arts classes. He will encourage members in Kansas City to pursue seats on their local school boards and work to have shop classes reinstated.

"Folks who run school boards think all they have to do is call an 800 number to get their water heater repaired," he said, "but in 10 years, no one is going to be there to answer their call."

Instilling an interest in manufacturing has to begin long before high school shop classes, the actor said.

"If you really want children to have high self-esteem, have them build something from scratch," he said. Encourage them to use tools and consider how things are made.

Thomas Edison did not decide in adulthood that he wanted to invent a lightbulb, Ratzenberger said. His curiosity was piqued in childhood through experiences such as hanging around the shipyard on Lake Erie.

If we begin honoring the people who make the things we use every day, he said it is a significant step toward opening a world of innovation and industry to the people who will ultimately sustain it.

Ratzenberger speaks at the Joint Industry Breakfast and Opening Session at 8 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28. S