Peppy 81 -Year-Old Is A Woman On The Move
BY LOU ANN GOOD
LEBANON Peppy 81-year
old Ada Kneasel rises daily at 5:30
a.m. First thing she does is pull on
her new sneakers. “I bought my
first pair last year,” the octogena
rian brags.
Every morning she uses those
sneakers to walk her daily mile.
She explained, “I walk up and
down my walk 20 times—that
makes a mile.”
After breakfast, she spends 10
hours a day stitching Ada’s Crea
tions at her sewing machine.
Ada’s Creations are usually a
combination of several patterns
and her own creativity. She said, “I
just see it in my mind and I know
exactly how it’s going to look.
Some people have problems com
bining patterns because they can’t
picture how everything is going to
look. I have insight into what looks
right.”
Ada takes on any sewing project
that others request She estimates
that one half her sewing time is
devoted to alterations and the other
half to custom made clothing. She
finds the most satisfaction in mak
ing bridal gowns, especially the
one she’s entering in state farm
show competition this week.
Ada made the gown for her
granddaughter. The gown features
a long train trimmed with lace and
64 tiny covered buttons.
It’s designed from a combina
tion of patterns and adjusted for a
perfect fit
This is the first wedding gown
she is entering in competition, but
she has collected an impressive
amount of ribbons garnered from
entering coats and dresses.
The last time Ada entered items
in the state farm show was in 1964
when she received the two top rib
bons for both the eastern and west
ern state competition. Since then.
Making so re the wadding gown la In tiptop for state
farm show competition, Ada examines each tiny covered
button of the 65 stitched on it.
she said, ”1 just kept sewing and
didn’t bother to take anything up.”
But this year her daughter-in
law said, “I’m going to enter this
gown in the farm show for you.”
Ada said, “People say, “It
doesn’t look homemade.’” She
counters, “Well, that’s what our
teachers always told us: “Get away
from the homemade look.’”
Her start in sewing began many
years ago when she took classes
through the Lebanon extension
service.
She said, “Years ago, when
women were interested in sewing
something, we met in each other’s
homes and someone came from the
extension office to teach 145.”
Eventually Ada gained so much
skill, the extension ask her to teach
the classes.
“I’ve taught everything in sew
ing from making coats to drape
ries,” Ada said.
Many people who can sew, do
not know how to adjust patterns for
a perfect fit. Ada does. She asked,
“Did you know people aren’t even
on both sides? I can tell just look
ing at people if their one shoulder
is further down than the other
___ •»
one.
To remind her to make those
adjustments on each article of clo
thing she makes, Ada keeps a
record of her clients’ measure
ments. She doesn’t bother to check
the records.of those she makes on a
regular basis. She said, “1 know
their measurements by heart so I
know what adjustments to make
without looking.”
Ada purchases her material in
south Philadelphia. “If you want
good quality, that’s where you
should go,” she said.
She learns a lot by examining
how ready made clothing is
designed.
“I look a lot, but you don’t see
la . jeasley finds plenty of reasons to sew for her 10 grandchil
dren and three great grandchildren. Back row from left: Tammy Beard, Anna Kneasel,
and Tina Kneasel. Sitting from left, Ada holding great granddaughter Chelsea and
Alvena Kneasley.
me wearing store-bought clo
thing,” she boasted. “I make my
own coats and suits. I make bound
button holes by the Bishop
method. Few people can do that
anymore, but I think they look
best.”
For those who complain that
putting in zippers or making bound
buttonholes is too difficult, Ada
wastes no sympathy. “I just made
up my mind, I was going to do it
and I did. I practiced until they
(buttonholes) were no trouble at
all. That’s what other people need
to do—practice.”
Ada advices potential seamtres
ses, “Have patience. Don’t throw it
(the sewing project) in the comer if
you make a mistake. I’ve been
sewing all these years, and I rip out
a lot even yet. That goes with
sewing.”
Women, Ada believes, should
learn to sew now more than ever.
She said, “Ready made clothing is
expensive to buy and imports don’t
fit right because they aren’t sized
for American women.”
For her personal preference,
Ada said, “I like the young styles.
“See this blousom waistline,”
she said as she pointed to the silk
dress she was wearing,. I wasn’t
sure how I’d like it until I tried it,
but it turned out just fine.”
She has two sewing machines
set up side by side because, “you
know they break down some
times.” She has no time to waste on
breakdowns.
After 10 hours of sewing, Ada
spends her evenings doing hand
sewing and reading. “I got good
eyes.” she said, “and I got good
bones—l drank a lot of milk when
I was little. I always ate good and
worked hard.”
“I’m always going, never sitting
idle,” Ada admits. People often ask
her, “Are you still sewing?”
Ada answers, “I must do
something.”
Even though Ada devotes most
of her time to sewing, she takes a
break now and then. Even then,
she’s a woman on the move.
She took her first airplane flight
in 1986 to New Mexico at age 79.
Since then she’s traveled to Cali
fornia, Florida, Missouri, and now
she’s planning a trip this year to
Hawaii and to Germany.
She took that first flight to a
National Grange meeting. “I’ve
been a member for 64 years.” she
said. She has a golden sheath pin
Unless she is traveling, 81-year-old Ada spends 10 hours
dally at the sewing machine.
that represents 50 years. And she’s
a charter member of the Lebanon
Farm Women Society 12. That
makes 43 years. She recounts that
she has kept everyone of the Farm
Women program books. She
served as president for two succes
sive terms and as secretary.
Ada doesn’t spend much time
recounting stories from the past.
She has too many current adven
tures such as the time a hotair bal
loon landed in her field. She
recalls, “We (she and her
daughter-in-law) went out to see it
and jumped on like two kids and
took a ride. Oh, that was fun.”
Ada still lives on the farm she
and her now deceased husband
purchased at the beginning of their
marriage in 1933. “The place was
really delapidated when we bought
it,” said Ada. “We fixed it up and
put all new boards on bam. We
kept fixing up the house until it
International
Arleen L. Miller, 21, of Rich
boro has recently returned from
her five-month trip to Paraguay,
South America as the 1988 Penn
sylvania International 4-H Youth
Exchange (BFYE) representative.
Miller lived with 10 families
throughout the country sharing in
their family life in order to grasp
an understanding of the Paraguay
an culture.
Miller was a 4-H member in
Bucks County fra* 12 years. She
participated in the Bucks County
4-H Seeing Eye Puppy Club and
the Richboro 4-H Club complet
ing projects in public speaking,
leadership, health, crafts, and cili-
was replastered and we put in new
flooring and new windows.”
Ada said, '‘Everyone admires
my place and I like it too.lt’s been
my home all these years and I don’t
want to leave.”
Her three sons, who live nearby,
now farm the land together. And
on them and on her grandchildren,
Ada depends on transportation
because she explained, “I don’t
drive—that’s one thing I don’t do.
Butmy sons and their children take
me everywhere, so why should I
drive?”
She said, “I’ve never went to
high school, but I learned more out
of school than in it. You can learn a
lot if you keep doing and
thinking.”
Ada expects to keep learning
new things. Her family has a his
tory of longevity. Her mother lived
to be 89 and her father 98, “with no
trouble at all.”
Youth Exchange
zenship. Miller’s prinicipal pro
jects was the raising of Seeing Eye
Puppies of which she raised six.
She served as secretary, vice pres
ident, and president in the Puppy
Club and in the Bucks County 4-H
County Council. Miller was
awarded the William Danforth “I
Dare You" award for 1985, Teen
Leader awards, the Bucks County
Chamber of Commerce Youth
Quality award, and was the 1985
Dpg Care and Training winner to
National 4-H Congress in Chica
go, Illinois.
Hie IPYE trip to Paraguay was
a step into the international forum
of 4-H for Miller.