Jason Chausse's working life has undergone a sea change recently. A couple of years ago he was struggling to succeed in a small landscaping business with all the vagaries that odd jobs work entails. Then the 34-year-old East Falmouth resident came to work at Cape Abilities Farm in Marstons Mills.
"He's really grown on the job," says Buzz Friend (shown in photo with Jason), one of the farm's supervisors. "We've got a team out here and he's a leader, an example to the other workers."
Jason's performance has been so outstanding that he and Buzz were recently each given a Recognition Award for Individual Achievement by the Cape and Islands Citizens Advisory Board of the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services.
They aren't the only people who've recognized a change in Jason. His father, Bob Chausse, says he's seen "a whole attitude change" in his son, which he attributes to working with the team at the farm.
"He's a real farmer now," according to Friend.
At the Marstons Mills property, which is part of the larger Cape Abilities Farm that includes our main site on Route 6A in Dennis, Jason is in charge of small machinery. "He runs and maintains the rototiller, the cultivator, the weed whacker and the lawnmowers," Friend says. "He loves working with machinery. He takes great pride in keeping things clean and working."
"I enjoy doing what I've been trained to work on," Jason says.
Jason lives in East Falmouth with his parents. When he's not working, his favorite leisure time activity is fishing.
Friend says at Marstons Mills, he, Jason, two other workers have formed a core group to do the work.
"Jason's done a fantastic job out here," he says.