Chaffee tradition opens for season

With just more than 3,000 people, Chaffee, Missouri, is considered a small town — and folks in small towns embrace their traditions.

Rosalie Haney shows her alarm going off at 10:30 a.m., the official time Chaffee Drive In opened for the season Monday, March 6, in Chaffee Missouri. Haney was the first to order and had a list of items she had been waiting for.Alyssa Lunsford

Rosalie Haney shows her alarm going off at 10:30 a.m., the official time Chaffee Drive In opened for the season Monday, March 6, in Chaffee Missouri. Haney was the first to order and had a list of items she had been waiting for.Alyssa Lunsford

Chaffee Drive In is one of those traditions.

The local mainstay reopened for the season Monday, March 6, with a line of excited ice cream eaters ready to greet owner Laura Estes and her workers.

Rosalie Haney of Chaffee was the first in line for the season, and even brought her own chair to sit in while waiting more than two hours for the restaurant to open.

Haney came prepared with a list of items she was getting for her first trip of the season — two double cheeseburgers, two ice cream cones, a sloppy joe and more.

Rosalie Haney wears a shirt that says "Line Starts Here". Haney lined up early Monday, March 6, and was the first person at Chaffee Drive In, beating the owner.Alyssa Lunsford

Rosalie Haney wears a shirt that says "Line Starts Here". Haney lined up early Monday, March 6, and was the first person at Chaffee Drive In, beating the owner.Alyssa Lunsford

Haney said the ice cream is the best around and the Drive In is like home.

When asked why she arrived there so early, she pointed to her shirt, which read "Line Starts Here".

The owners, Laura and Carl Estes, have a Facebook page where they shared updates on and a daily countdown to the reopening of the Drive In starting a few weeks in advance. This year, they have added new items to the menu, including a s'mores flavored Storm ice cream, waffle cone bowls and sprinkles.

Chaffee Drive In — which started in the 1950s, according to its Facebook page — is open from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day from now until September.