Ladybug Lady uses prestige of Guinness World Record collection to support domestic violence shelter

When Lake in the Hills resident Sheri Cummings first received her Guinness World Record certificate for amassing the largest collection of unique ladybug items, she had “only” two thousand pieces.

Then Sheri learned during the COVID-19 pandemic that her record had been surpassed, she worked overtime to reclaim the title.

Now, with nearly 6,000 items and the Guinness title intact, she’s set her sights on helping others. The notoriety that comes from being a world record-holder helped her raise thousands of dollars for local domestic violence shelter Turning Point Inc.

“I knew I wanted to use this to help Turning Point,” Sheri said. “It’s certainly allowable to use the title to raise money for others. Turning Point was opening up its first shelter around the time we got our first title. So I started taking pledges.”

In addition to raising money, Sheri provided an initial $3,000 donation to Turning Point.

The money comes from admission fees to view her collection. Sheri calls it Ladybug Land, an intensely decorated exhibit which occupies the basement of her home, where Cummings lives with her husband, Gregg.

“When we first met five years ago, on our very first date she mentioned she had a big bug collection,” Gregg said. “I thought, ‘Oh, that’s nice.’ But then I came over and she revealed she’s a world-record collector. She has such joy about it, it’s hard not to share it.”

Sheri joked that visitors should try and count the items themselves. The paraphernalia includes Lego ladybugs, ladybug clothing, ladybug-covered garden gnomes and a copy of Eric Carle’s classic illustrated children’s book “The Grouchy Ladybug.”

The first item in her collection is a ladybug tea set Sheri got as a kid in 1967. The most recent items sit in a pile in her basement, waiting to be catalogued and staged somewhere in the home.

“It started with that tea set,” Sheri said. “I grew up in the ‘60s, when people had stuff like the ladybug VW Beetle car. It was all very happening. Ladybugs are just so cute.”

Sheri first got her Guinness title certificate in 2008, and she described the process of getting an official count as extensive, including hundreds of photos and a number of rules the official counters must follow, such as ignoring duplicates or discounting homemade items.

The most recent count was submitted in February, Sheri said, and she was notified over the summer that she had regained the record.

“This has been a long time coming,” Sheri said. “I moved, got divorced, bought a new house, and built the collection up to six thousand items.”

Sheri also considers herself an expert on the entomology of ladybugs and the important work they do as a natural pesticide eating aphids.

She knows about the different kinds. One species, the orange-colored Asian lady beetle, is invasive and outcompeting the state’s native red ladybugs.

Sheri teaches about the insects to classes at Jacobs High School, where she works as a paraprofessional across four departments.

Ironically, the one thing Sheri has never had is actual ladybugs.

“The insects can stay outside where they belong,” Sheri says.

Anyone interested in taking a tour of Ladybug Land can set up a visit by contacting mneumann@turntp.org.

CORRECTION: This story was corrected Monday morning to reflect the correct spelling of Sheri Cummings’ name.