Aryn Henning Nichols

My grandma, Martha Grace (Andrews) Deines, exudes love, happiness, and safety. I’m lucky to call her a close confidant and dear friend. In her life so far, she’s been a pastor’s wife; a mother of six (the six D’s – David, Dana, Dawn, Diedre, Darla, and Danette); and the best grandmother to 12 and great-grandmother to an ever-growing number! Martha’s greatest point of pride is the love and care she has for her family and close family friends! Martha – who just turned 90 years young in April 2024 – is quiet, calm, and positive. She’s a woman of few words, but always straightforward answers. She is easy-going and goes with the flow.

She can often be found in her home in Greene, Iowa, knitting a blanket for a loved-one, working on a puzzle, or watching a sporting event. Beyond this reserved exterior, she is one of the most resilient, strong, and selfless humans. Martha will be the first to tell you how much she loves you and how proud she is of you. Her bright, genuine smile and laughter lights up a room. Maya Angelou’s words come to mind, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” And my grandma makes the people around her feel loved – she is always their biggest cheerleader. Her energy is, quite simply, soothing for the soul. Sometimes it is hard to hear over our busy lives and the distracting world around us, but when friends and family who know Martha get the time to connect and pay attention, they feel truly seen and held within her deep love and genuine uplifting words.

Try to describe yourself in one sentence: Happy, married, mother… proud of my family! Content.

Best advice you have received:  Well, probably just, “play it cool” and don’t go to bed angry.

What did you want to be when you grew up?  I wanted to be a teacher, and I was! I was an elementary school teacher for a handful of years. I also helped my husband, John (who was a pastor at UNI) as his secretary. We made a good team, and it was nice for him to not have to worry about those types of things. I have very fond memories of our time at the UNI Lutheran Student Center. I continue to have good connections with people from that time and place that are very important in my life! (Martha still has season tickets to UNI Volleyball and attends nearly every home game!)

Do you remember your first job? I worked at the park in the summer – entertaining and teaching kids. I have always liked being around children, with my job as a teacher and stay-at-home mother of six!

Is there something you’ve done that you are proud of? 

Leading the band as the drum major in high school!

If you could eat anything every day for the rest of your life, what would it be? Ice cream! Preferably, butter pecan! (Shortly after she answered this question, someone knocked on the door to remind her about an ice cream social happening that afternoon! I believe she manifested it ~ magical Martha!)

If you were stranded on an island, what would you bring? Water… and ice cream! And my knitting to stay entertained.

How did you meet Grandpa? We met at a carnival that was in town when we were teenagers! We both grew up in Greene, IA, but we were in different grades and attended different churches, so we didn’t really know each other until then.

What was one of the best decisions you’ve ever made? Marrying John… the kids, grandkids, great-grandkids, and all of the joy our life together brought! He left too soon.

Do you remember your wedding day? The weather was so beautiful that day. It was at St. Peter Lutheran Church where John’s father was the pastor. It is the church I attend now, after living in a lot of different places for John’s church callings as a pastor himself… Feels very good, very full circle, to have ended up back in Greene.

Do you have any advice for love or relationships? Be comfortable with each other and be honest at all costs.

What do you hope for the future of your family? Happiness! Good health! Do creative things and surround yourself with people you enjoy.

In 1940, as Walt Disney’s Pinocchio wobbled across the big screen, a lesser-known creative genius gave rise to another cinematic icon. Woody Woodpecker, an irascible bird with a spiky red doo, impish grin, and signature laugh, leaped off cartoonist Walter Lance’s drawing table and into movie theaters. Modeled after North America’s Pileated Woodpecker, Woody’s celebrity eventually landed him on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, indelibly popularizing woodpeckers in modern culture.

True to its name, a woodpecker’s life is about pecking. All share anatomical features that make them uniquely “woodpecker.” Special musculature in and around their heads holds their brain in place while they furiously peck away – no need for aspirin. Stiff tail feathers prop them vertically against trees to enable the business of pecking. Specialized feet with two toes pointed forward and two pointed backward, “zygodactyly” in the parlance of ornithologists, enable them to easily grip even the smoothest bark.

Winter is ideal for woodpecker viewing. Leafless trees offer unobstructed views of these forest-dwelling dynamos. Their inclination to make noise gives them away. As cold winter days slowly lengthen, woodpeckers begin to drum. Short, staccato bursts are a percussive proclamation of territory and a sure sign that spring is indeed on the way. Heavy, chisel-like bills facilitate excavation of wood to find insects and create nest holes. They’re so adept at woodwork, in Latin America woodpeckers are known as “pájaros carpinteros“ – bird carpenters. 

An industrious lot, woodpeckers excavate new nest holes every year. The previous year’s holes don’t remain unoccupied for long. Tree cavities are prime real estate. A host of species unable to excavate wood – chickadees, nuthatches, titmice, owls, and even Wood Ducks – depend on prodigious woodpeckers for a constant supply of much needed housing. That, in turn, is dependent on an abundance of dead trees, a critically important resource for healthy woodpecker populations.

Driftless forests support seven species of woodpeckers. The largest, the Pileated, is a crow-sized behemoth. It’s resonant “cuk-cuk-cuk-cuk” vocalization echoes throughout wooded coulees. Deep, rectangular excavations in tree trunks skirted with piles of woodchips are evidence of a bird more often heard than seen.

Our smallest woodpecker, the diminutive Downy, is dressed in snappy black and white. A mere six inches long, these tiny acrobats easily explore the underside of branches and are often seen perched on goldenrod stems searching for insects. The Downy Woodpecker is a frequent backyard visitor.

In terms of pure panache, the Red-headed Woodpecker gets top billing. An impossibly red head sits atop a boldly patterned back and white body propelled by equally striking wings. The mere glimpse of a flying “red head” elicits oohs and ahhhs. In a manner reminiscent of flycatchers, red heads frequently dart out from dead trees to snatch insects in mid-air, a behavior known as hawking. 

The Northern Flicker seems “less woodpecker” than its cousins. The large, jaunty bird sports crisp polka dots on a mocha-colored body. The only woodpecker to routinely forage on the ground, flickers have a propensity for ants. They’re often seen hopping like robins, opportunistically “excavating” anthills while searching for tasty ant larva. Flickers are snowbirds, heading to slightly warmer climes – Missouri and Arkansas – to spend the winter.

In the woodpecker world, the prize for fine dining goes to Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers. A smallish woodpecker bedecked in black and white, their scarlet forehead distinguishes them from similar looking species. 

As their name implies, sapsuckers have a proverbial sweet tooth. They drill rows of small holes known as sap wells into tree trunks to release sugary sap. Brushy tipped tongues enable them to efficiently lap it up. Clusters of sap wells attract a host of additional species, including hummingbirds, searching for a quick slurp… or the insects also attracted to sap. It just so happens sap wells can be life savers for hungry birds when early spring weather takes a turn for the worse. When you can’t find bugs, you can always rely on sap. That makes these feathered confectioners vitally important members of their woodland neighborhoods.

Most Driftless woodpeckers are steely enough to endure the Upper Midwest’s snowy climate. This winter,  when you’re itching for a change of pace, put on your boots and gloves and head out. A quiet foray into your local grove is sure to yield a glimpse of these fascinating woodland carpenters.   

Craig & Mary Thompson

Craig and Mary Thompson live north of La Crosse near an oak forest brimming with busy woodpeckers. Mary’s favorite is the flicker because “they’re the only bird cool enough to wear polka dots every day.” Craig has already made an April reservation at a local sap well.

“My beautiful daughter’s life ended on a cold kitchen floor of a dumpy studio apartment near La Crosse while I slept in my bed in Westby,” says Heidi Overson, describing her heart-breaking experience of a parent’s worst nightmare. “I wasn’t there to help her, to hold her, to try and bring her back to life. I never got to say, ‘I love you’ one last time.” 

On January 7, 2022, at the age of 31, Heidi’s daughter, Amara “Mari” Lee, died due to accidental fentanyl poisoning. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid used to treat chronic severe pain or severe pain following surgery. It is a controlled substance similar to morphine, but approximately 100 times more potent. 

According to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, just two milligrams of fentanyl can be a lethal dose, depending on someone’s body size, tolerance, and past usage. Drug traffickers typically distribute fentanyl by the kilogram. One kilogram of fentanyl has the potential to kill 500,000 people. 

Within months of Amara’s passing, Heidi, along with Randall Overson (Amara’s stepfather) and Jeff Richardson (Amara’s father), founded the Amara Rose Foundation. The 501(c)(3) non-profit is dedicated to honoring lives lost to addiction and fentanyl poisoning by raising awareness, educating, promoting prevention, encouraging those in recovery, and helping those – and their families – who are struggling.

“I wanted to tell the world what happened to my daughter,” says Heidi. “I wanted to be a living example of a parent that went through hell with my daughter and turned that journey into a lesson, in hopes that other parents and families would fight harder to save their own children, users and non-users alike.”

Though Amara ultimately lost her battle, Heidi was determined that fentanyl wouldn’t win. 

“I wanted to turn evil into good. There was nowhere else to go with our loss,” explains Heidi. “I always quote the verse Genesis 50:20: ‘… you meant evil against me, but God made it for good in order to bring this present result, the saving of many lives.’ That sums up our foundation pretty well. We know she’s in heaven and we will see her again, but until then, we are on a mission to save lives.”

Amara was Heidi’s firstborn child, older sister to several siblings and part of a caring family. She had a great personality and sense of humor, Heidi says, and was popular in school. 

But in middle school, Amara began to struggle, and after a couple bouts of shoplifting, her family got her into counseling, hoping to resolve the issues she was having. Unfortunately, by high school, Amara had begun drinking and experimenting with drugs, unbeknownst to her family. 

After graduating and moving out of her family home in rural Coon Valley, Wisconsin, Amara continued to stay in touch with and see her family often – they had no idea she was using drugs. She hid it well. Amara became addicted to meth in her twenties, then heroin. When she had an overdose, her family became abruptly aware of Amara’s drug use. They got her into a one-month treatment center, hoping it would cure her. They didn’t know much about drug addiction and that one month of treatment is not anywhere near the amount of time needed.

“It was pure hell,” says Heidi. “There were so many ups and downs. Over the next few years, she’d use, get clean, come home to go through her withdrawals, take off again, and we wouldn’t hear from her for weeks. She was in three long-term inpatient treatment centers over time, but they did nothing for her.”

 The long, hard, back-and-forth journey would end tragically as fentanyl made its way onto the drug scene. Due to its low cost and potency, drug dealers are mixing fentanyl with other illegal drugs such as heroin, meth, marijuana and cocaine, and even fake prescription pills and vapes, often creating a lethal concoction. 

According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and American Medical Association, 60 percent of drug overdose deaths were linked to fentanyl in 2021. In Wisconsin, synthetic opioids (primarily fentanyl) were identified in 91 percent of opioid overdose deaths and 73 percent of all drug overdose deaths. The number of fentanyl overdose deaths in Wisconsin grew by 97 percent from 2019 to 2021. 

Amara joined those tragic statistics with her death in 2022. Addiction was a disease from which she would never recover, the outcome terminal. 

“Our family will never be the same,” says Heidi. “We all miss her, each in our own ways. I am devastated. It’s been almost three years, and I still can’t function like I used to…the pain is overwhelming some days. Part of my heart is gone.”

After starting the foundation, Amara’s parents built up a board of directors – all of whom have personal dealings with drug/alcohol addiction, fentanyl poisonings, and mental illness, through a variety of experiences such as working in law enforcement, counseling, experiencing addiction personally, or losing a loved one to overdose or fentanyl poisoning – and began sharing their stories. 

Scott Bjerkos is a detective with the Vernon County Sheriff’s Office and Fritz Leinfelder is an investigator with the La Crosse County Sheriff’s Office. They both serve as presenters and have experience and knowledge of what’s going on in local communities and in the fight against addiction and fentanyl poisoning. 

Veronica Hoiland was Amara’s jail correctional officer at the Vernon County Detention Center and grew very close to Amara while working with her. 

Julie Tully’s son, Karl, was a friend of Amara’s who also died from accidental fentanyl poisoning in 2017.

Samantha Marshall is a board member who is in successful recovery and provides valuable insight during decision-making processes.

Julie Mills is very active in the Viroqua community and provides a variety of connections and event organizing skills. She truly has a heart for those struggling.  

The Amara Rose Foundation focuses on providing education, raising awareness, supporting law enforcement and jail programs and ministries, and encouraging and supporting people in recovery as well as those struggling with mental illness, addiction, and grief. They also connect with and support families and friends who’ve lost loved ones to addiction or fentanyl poisoning, and many of these people are presenters or volunteer for the foundation. 

“Fentanyl is everywhere…and so many kids don’t know. Adults don’t know. This is a matter of life and death…we are spreading the facts as much as we can, wherever we can,” says Heidi. “Our presentations are hard hitting and educational. We use our experiences and tell what people need to be aware of, and we share our flyers and posters for people to take and hang up in their communities.”

Each year, the Amara Rose Foundation hosts two big fundraising events – a Remembrance Walk in the fall, and a chili cook-off. Fentanyl Awareness Day – May 7 – is also recognized and commemorated with large presentations. 

While the foundation directly supports those in recovery, mostly with loving moral support, resources and connections, Heidi notes that this year they helped provide rent assistance for one woman, who is working to move forward with her life. “This woman was one of Amara’s best friends, and they used together. She made it, but Amara didn’t. The foundation is very proud of her,” Heidi says. 

Heidi and her family personally saw the pain of stigma surrounding those struggling with addiction. The foundation works hard to educate others that addiction is a disease, and those suffering from it should be met with compassion.

“We raise all these people up as much as we can,” explains Heidi. “We tell and show them that we believe in them, and they’re going to do great things. And they will! We’ve all had many, many conversations both over the phone and face-to-face with so many this year…they need someone to give them hope and to believe in them. We are there for them.”

In addition to a billboard, yard sign, and banner campaign in 2024, the Amara Rose Foundation launched a drink-spike prevention sticker campaign with each sticker featuring messages about fentanyl and Narcan (a medicine to rapidly reverse an opioid overdose). Thousands of stickers have been handed out to bars and nightclubs in several communities. Next will be an awareness ad campaign targeting 13- to 25-year-olds on TikTok and Snapchat, as well as on La Crosse’s WKBT News. Heidi says they’re working on a La Crosse MTU bus ad campaign too and hope to bring awareness to schools and other counties in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa in the future. 

“We want our work to reduce the number of parents, families and friends suffering from their unimaginable and often unexpected loss,” says Heidi. “We want our stories to keep kids from taking a fake prescription pill laced with fentanyl, to never pick up a joint or a powder or a syringe. We just want to save lives and keep people from experiencing the awful pain that we did…and still are.” 

Tallitha Reese

Tallitha Reese is a freelance writer and content manager based in Cashton, WI. She owns Words By Reese and you can find out more about her and her work at www.wordsbyreese.com.