CLINTON: The small village of 1,337 residents is about as close to the fictional Mayberry, N.C., as a community can be.That rural town was the setting for the 1960s television sitcom The Andy Griffith Show — featuring Griffith as Sheriff Andy Taylor — and the spinoff, Mayberry R.F.D.Clinton Mayor Phyllis Mayberry, 70, and her husband, former Mayor Tom Mayberry, 82, recognize the coincidence of having the same name as the television show and use it to their advantage so folks know the correct spelling.“We tell them it’s just like Mayberry R.F.D.,” Phyllis said in a recent interview.RFD stands for Rural Free Delivery, a postal depiction of the community. The mention of the post office is another coincidence the town shares with the show.Tom met former U.S. Rep. John Seiberling when he came to town in the 1960s looking for land for a post office. Tom said he admired Seiberling and his commitment to the park system — a topic on which they agreed.“He was very smooth, in a good way, and very interested in the metro parks,” Tom said as he reminisced with his wife at Clinton Village Hall, where they have served as mayor and council members.When Phyllis’ second term as mayor ends Jan. 1, it will be the first day since 1992 that one or the other Mayberry isn’t holding an elected office, frequently at the same time.Tom, who served on the council in the 1960s and two terms (elected in 2004 and 2008) on the Northwest Board of Education, was first sworn in as mayor in 1992, just before he and Phyllis married.They celebrated their 18th wedding anniversary Aug. 20.Phyllis can tell you the exact number of residents because they know the names of just about everybody in town — and vice versa.“They call him ‘Tom’ and me ‘Phyllis,’ ” she said. “Youngsters ride their bikes past our house and holler, ‘Hi, Mayor.’ ”She is quick, however, to correct adults who call her by the honorific rather than her first name.In 1901, John Beaver, Tom’s maternal grandfather, donated land near the railroad for downtown streets. Tom, who was born and raised in the community, said he never called another place home.It’s the family’s longevity that appeals to the 350 to 400 people who vote at each election, he said.“People know you are from old stock, and that’s what they vote for,” said Tom, who attended Clinton School from grades 1-12.Phyllis was raised in Patoka, Ind. (population 735 in the 2010 census), about 30 miles north of Evansville. Her 1959 high school graduating class had 14 students, so she felt at home when she moved to Clinton in 1965.Tom ran for a second term as mayor in 1995, losing by 15 votes. Two months later, he was chosen to fill a vacant seat on the six-person, nonpartisan council, serving with Phyllis, who had just been elected to the council for her first term.“One man said, ‘This is never going to work with two of you on council’ because [Tom] would be telling me how to vote. I told him, ‘I’m not Tom, and I can think for myself,’ ” she said.They disagreed on issues frequently and voted differently, but it never caused any friction at home, Tom said.In 1999, Tom was again elected mayor, taking office in 2000, while Phyllis was elected to another council term. He gave up the seat in 2004 to run for the school board, and Phyllis was elected mayor, a position she continues to hold.“The first mayor of Clinton was elected in 1904. One hundred years later, I was sworn in as the first female mayor,” Phyllis said.Tom won two consecutive terms on the school board but resigned in his second term after suffering a stroke.He feels his biggest accomplishment was getting 2› miles of the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail located through Clinton’s downtown area.Phyllis, who said she’s never had an opponent, said her biggest achievement was getting almost $1 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency funds and Community Development Block Grants to buy out homeowners who lived in a flood plain along the Tuscarawas River that overflows after heavy rains.The two remember taking their last vacation — in 1992, when they visited Branson, Mo. They don’t expect to take another one soon; their grandson, Phillip, 15, a Northwest High School freshman, and Phyllis’ mother, Linda Wilson, 89, live with them.When asked why people continued to support them for almost two decades, Tom said the explanation could be as simple as an old joke he remembers that asked a person whether he knew where he would be buried.“If you know, you are going to stay where you are because you want to be there,” he said.The Mayberrys say they will spend eternity in the same place they are right now: within the village of Clinton’s four square miles.Kathy Antoniotti can be reached at 330-996-3565 or kantoniotti@thebeaconjournal.com.