The Suncook Valley has no choice. The people there must play by Don Chase’s rules.

Those are his chat rooms on Facebook, focusing on Suncook and the rest of the towns in that area. You’re invited to discuss all things Valley, but keep it nice, keep it polite, please.

No street fighting allowed in any of the three groups created and coordinated by Chase. He’s 71 and recently moved to a nursing facility in Concord, where he continues to write and invite.

With the recent dark political climate, though, Chase had no chance of avoiding un-pleasantries on Facebook in recent months and years. And he knew it.

“I don’t like it lately with all the conspiracy talk,” Chase said. “I’m a political junkie, but when someone mentions growing three heads because someone got vaccinated, I won’t allow that. People get mad; what do I care?”

He had moved to Suncook from Penacook three years ago and noticed immediately that something was missing.

“I started this because there wasn’t anything there,” Chase said. “I thought it was sad and I saw a need for it. I figured it would get a few takers.”

He has more than 2,000 people writing to the three outlets: Homeless in Concord; Suncook, Allenstown and Pembroke Community; and Fun and Interesting Facts.

His search for input became highly visible on Facebook. His fans showed their appreciation last Christmas, starting a GoFundMe Page so Chase could ditch his four-year-old Chromebook and replace it with a new laptop.

Brand new, Chase said, $700, 17½-inch screen, all the bells whistles.

“It made me feel really good,” Chase said. “They respect the way I run the group.”

His allegiance to Suncook is unique in that he’s a native of Weare, and he actually lived in Suncook for only a couple of years, when he was in his late 60s. His health declined and he moved to the nursing home last year.

His affection evolved from the many years he worked at the Emerson Lounge Company, a furniture maker, on the Pembroke side of the river.

“I always loved Suncook,” Chase said. “I always liked the community.”

While Chase identifies mostly with Suncook, he’s been around. He worried about receiving too much credit for the online community gatherings that he hosts, praising the members and their contributions.

But he’s the face out front. Chase was in the Army for five years. Then he lived all over the country and all over the Granite State.

Job-wise, he set dynamite to blow holes open for power-line installations. He was a corrections officer. He was a disc jockey. And he fixed rides for a carnival that traveled nationwide.

“I was not an expert at any of those things,” Chase told me.

He began slowing down soon after moving to Suncook in March, 2018. He walks with a cane now at the nursing home.

“I lived in Suncook until my body gave out on me,” Chase said. “I beat the (crap) out of it, but my mind is still relatively sound.”

Sound enough to launch the current open dialogues that have spread around Suncook and beyond. The issue of homelessness, of course, got a lot of attention. Chase said the debates get heated now and then.

Some worry that homeless people are “milking” the system and exploiting the kindness of organizations like the Concord Coalition to End Homelessness.

He keeps spicy thoughts to himself, though, or at least he doesn’t write them in his posts. Anyone who crosses a line gets a written warning and muted access only, for as long as a month.

Do it again, and you’ll be ejected like a manager with a big mouth. Chase said it has, indeed, happened. Not often, though.

“I boot you out of the club,” Chase said. “We’re like any other group, except no politics, and no Biden and Trump. None of that crap. When we have discussions about school and local issues that’s fine. Nothing about cancel culture or anything like that.”

Mike Auger has lived in Allenstown for 33 years. He’s one of Chase’s moderators, and he’s seen the boss turn tough.

“He does not put up with any of that,” Auger said. “There have been a couple of instances, mostly with town government. There was a huge debate on the new school. Some got banned on that one.”

Indeed, Allenstown settled a huge issue on Election Day, choosing to replace the town’s two schools and moving those students, grades K-8, into a new, larger, building.

“I was a fierce advocate for the new school,” Chase said. “That was important to me, and there were two sides and the good side won.”

Mostly, though, there’s an exchange of humor, some reminiscing, meeting information, etc. Chase’s Fun and Interesting Facts elicited a shiny response. The kind Chase wants to read.

“Thank you, at this time in life, I enjoy all kinds of interesting facts, news, trivia , etc. to ponder, and keep my brain muscles working.”

Meanwhile, the gem in this three-pronged communications system is the Suncook, Allenstown and Pembroke Community, with more than 1,800 members.

The intro from Chase says, “I am proud to call Suncook my home and started this group to create a place for residents of Pembroke, Suncook and Allenstown to come and share ideas, discuss issues, share memories.”

He’s not finished, even though he no longer lives in the old village that always charmed him. He’s says he’ll keep writing, reading and monitoring, until his age forbids it.

“I intended to write from (Suncook) for the rest of my life,” Chase said. “I started this in Suncook and then I came here and I’m going to continue. I’m not going to give it up. I like the people.”

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