How Lake in the Hills woman's 'Ladybug Land' is helping a domestic violence shelter

When Lake in the Hills resident Cheri Cummings first received her Guinness World Record certificate for amassing the largest collection of unique ladybug items, she had "only" 2,000 pieces.

Then her record was surpassed during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading Cummings to work overtime to reclaim the title.

Now, with nearly 6,000 items and the Guinness title back in her hands, she's set her sights on helping others.

The recognition that comes with being a world record-holder has helped Cummings raise thousands of dollars for a local domestic violence shelter Turning Point Inc.

"I knew I wanted to use this to help Turning Point," she 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."

The money comes from admission fees to view her collection - Cummings calls it Ladybug Land. It's an intensely decorated exhibit that occupies the basement of the home she shares 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 Cummings 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."

The collection 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 she got as a kid in 1967. The most recent items sit in a pile in her basement, waiting to be cataloged and staged somewhere in the home.

"It started with that tea set," Cheri Cummings 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."

She got her first Guinness title certificate in 2008 through an extensive counting process. The most recent count was submitted in February, Cummings said, and she was notified over the summer that she had regained the record.

"This has been a long time coming," she said. "I moved, got divorced, bought a new house and built the collection up to 6,000 items."

Cummings also considers herself an expert on the entomology of ladybugs and the important work they do as natural pesticide-eating aphids. She knows about the different species and notes that the orange-colored Asian lady beetle is an invasive bug that's out-competing the state's native red ladybugs.

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

The one thing Cheri has never had in her collection is an actual ladybug.

"The insects can stay outside where they belong," Cheri says.

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