3/26/07

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP)  -- Actor John Ratzenberger, who played the know-it-all postman Cliff Claven on "Cheers,'' has agreed to lead this year's Barnum Festival Great Street Parade, organizers said Monday.

Ratzenberger, a Bridgeport native who is a celebrity contestant on ABC's ``Dancing With the Stars,'' was named grand marshal of what organizers called the largest parade in Connecticut.

"We are delighted to announce that this internationally known celebrity will be the honorary grand marshal of the Great Street Parade in Bridgeport on July 1st,'' said Larry Merriam, the festival's 59th Ringmaster.

The Barnum Festival was created in 1949 to celebrate the life of circus promoter P.T. Barnum, who was born on July 5. The celebration includes parades, concerts, parties, drum corps and the fireworks extravaganza at Seaside Park.

The parade will have more than 150 units, including military units, drum corps, bag pipers, floats, giant character balloons and clowns.

Ratzenberger will ride a float in the parade entitled, "Made in Bridgeport -- Manufacturing Past and Present.''

On June 29, Ratzenberger will host a celebrity breakfast at Sterling House in Stratford, where he attended camp as a youth.

"I am thrilled to return to my roots,'' Ratzenberger said in a statement. "One of my fondest memories of growing up in Bridgeport was to watch the Barnum Festival Parade as a child.''

Ratzenberger is host and producer "John Ratzenberger's Made in America'' on the Travel Channel.

The mission of his new nonprofit organization, Nuts, Bolts, and Thingamajigs Foundation, is to restore esteem and dignity to the manual and industrial arts, and introduce children to the joys of tinkering to inspire the next generation of American craftsman.

As National Walk Chairman for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, he has helped raise more than $100 million.

Ratzenberger was the only person to row a boat nonstop for more than 16 hours and 45 miles around Vashon Island in Washington State, raising funds and awareness for the Special Olympics.