A nativity collection belonging to Ron Shuler, a retired Janesville math teacher, is on display at the Hedberg Public Library through Dec. 31. The piece on the left is one of his favorites, bought in Germany while visiting his son.
A nativity collection belonging to Ron Shuler, a retired Janesville math teacher, is on display at the Hedberg Public Library through Dec. 31. The piece on the left is one of his favorites, bought in Germany while visiting his son.
HANNAH POWELL/HANNAH.POWELL@APG-SW.COM
JANESVILLE — Several generations of Marshall Middle School students and their families know Ron Shuler as a retired math teacher, who spent more than 30 years in the classroom there.
But there’s something the Janesville native has done for many more years than he taught at Marshall. The hobby has special meaning when December rolls around.
Since he was a young boy, Shuler has been collecting nativity scenes. From his first purchase at the downtown Janesville Woolworth’s with his allowance, to sets bought in more recent travels around the globe, he says adding to his collection remains a passion.
Today, he estimates he owns hundreds of different nativity sets.
Ron Shuler, a retired math teacher, shows off his nativity collection at the Hedberg Public Library in Janesville. It’s on display through Dec. 31.
HANNAH POWELL/HANNAH.POWELL@APG-SW.COM
A portion of his collection, about 70 nativity sets, is on display through Dec. 31 in the Hedberg Public Library’s Fireplace Room, during regular library hours.
The library is normally open Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and closed on Sunday. In the coming weeks, holiday hours will be in effect. HPL and HPL Express are closed all day Tuesday, Dec. 24, Wednesday, Dec. 25, and Wednesday, Jan. 1; and will close at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 31. Regular hours resume Thursday, Jan. 2.
The Hedberg Public Library is located at 316 S. Main St., in Janesville. HPL is located in the Uptown Janesville Mall, 2500 Milton Ave.
Shuler remembers the Friday night he bought his first nativity set.
His father came home from work and their family piled into the car and drove to Woolworth’s in downtown Janesville. While their parents enjoyed dinner — burgers and malts — he and his brother went Christmas shopping.
Ron Shuler, a retired math teacher, shows off his nativity collection at the Hedberg Public Library in Janesville. It’s on display through Dec. 31.
HANNAH POWELL/HANNAH.POWELL@APG-SW.COM
For each week of December, to help them buy gifts, their parents doubled their allowance.
Pooling their money, for a total of $2, the brothers had enough that night to buy the 3-member holy family and 1 sheep or a dog, he recalls. As the weeks went by, they returned, each time buying a few more figurines at Woolworth’s until by Christmas they had purchased an entire set.
It replaced an very old cardboard nativity set at their home in Janesville.
Shuler said he still has the set they bought at Woolworth’s. It’s not part of the library display.
One set that is on display includes figurines made of ash from Mount Saint Helens, and some made from bone. There’s a set from Paraguay, purchased in the country when he adopted his son.
His son has also helped build the collection. He brought two nativity sets home when he was stationed in Germany in the U.S. Army — one for himself and one for his father.
