MONDAY: IT'S HAM AND BEANS; MABLE'S CAFE STILL A CHAFFEE FIXTURE

CHAFFEE -- If it's ham-and-beans it must be Monday at least if you're a Chaffee resident with a hankering for down-home cooking.

"If it's ham-and-bean day they know it's Monday," said Leslie D. ("Scooter") Seabaugh, who operates Mable's Cafe, a Chaffee fixture for 31 years. "If it's fried chicken it's Tuesday; or, if it's chicken-and-dumplings it's Thursday."

Seabaugh and his wife, Barbara, have been owners and operators of the restaurant since October 1989, but Mable's Cafe has been "in the family" for well over a quarter of a century.

"My mother founded this cafe 31 years ago, and it has been in the family ever since," said Leslie Seabaugh, who does most of the cooking for noon meals. "We still have three generations of family at the cafe on occasion. My mother, Mable Grissom, and grandmother, Eunice Evans, who is 85 years old, still drop by the restaurant occasionally to lend a helping hand."

Mable's Cafe was founded in 1960 when Seabaugh was just 10.

"I have some fond memories of this place," Seabaugh said, explaining that he was raised in the cafe and helped out with "whatever had to be done."

"I can remember grabbing a pencil and paper when I was very young and taking an order," he said. "I can remember washing stacks of dishes and I can remember graduating into cooking, fixing burgers, making pies, and eventually into preparing the ham-and-beans."

Now Seabaugh prepares most of the main-course meals. "I do ham-and-beans, chicken-and-dumplings, liver-and-onions (on Wednesdays); catfish (on Fridays); or whatever," he said. "Saturday is my day. Nobody knows what they will be having for the Saturday noon meal; that's the day I fix just whatever comes to mind."

The reputation of the cafe and Seabaugh's inherited knack for kitchen wizardry seldom fails to bring in crowds eager to see what's cooking.

Seabaugh has another fond memory of the restaurant. "I met my wife here," he said. "Barbara worked for Mom before I ever knew her."

Seabaugh and his wife have a well-honed system for operating the restaurant. "I come in about 5 a.m.," he said. "I put the coffee on and start the gravy. Usually by that time I'll have a customer or two or three, and by 6 a.m. we'll usually have five or six early customers.

"I usually work through the morning, then babysit in the afternoon," he said. "Barbara babysits during the morning and works through the afternoon and evening at the restaurant."

The Seabaughs are parents of two children: son Colton, 2, and daughter Klamci, 2 months.

The cafe employs an additional six or seven people, including cooks and waitresses. It closes about 9 most evenings, but remains open all night on Fridays and Saturdays. "These are often good nights for us," he said. "We sell a lot of short-orders burgers, sandwiches and fries throughout the two weekend nights."

Seabaugh said most of the customers who frequent the cafe know him. "They watched me grow up," he said. "They watched me wait tables, and they know I can cook."

Seabaugh's mother continued to work in the restaurant until recently. "There was a six-month period when I was laid up because of a fire injury," said Seabaugh. "My wife, mother and others put in a lot of hours during that time."

Seabaugh sustained second-degree burns over 16 percent of his body and suffered smoke inhalation when his mobile home burned last March. Following a lengthy stay in St. John's Mercy Medical Center Burn Unit in St. Louis County, Seabaugh came back to the cafe in the fall.

"I love this restaurant. I've always liked people and have always been people-oriented."

Seabaugh was in communications during his Army stay, which included a tour in Vietman. "Later I was in auto sales," he said. "When my mother started talking about retirement, I decided to get involved full time in the restaurant. It's a decision I do not regret."

And neither do the people of Chaffee.