The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

It would be easy to miss the sign. You‘re travelling on Erb West, past Fischerâ€"Hallman, just beyond the landfill, on the north side, and there it is. The sign â€" Hergott Cider Mill and Products. Drive another quarter mile down a gravel laneway, and you‘ve found the mill and the Hergott family: Gordon, patriarch of the family, Joe and Gerrie, who now run the business, and their children Terry and Joseph. The Hergott family has been pressing apples into pure, sweet, fresh cider for more than 55 years. It all began in 1932, when Gordon used a smaller hand press to reduce apples grown on his more than 100â€"acre farm into cider. ‘‘There used to be 50â€"60 apple trees on these hills. We used to take them to another mill to be pressed then on day my father decided to do it himself. It took him three hours to make 40 gallons of cider," recalled the 43â€"yearâ€"old Joe, who started working at the cider mil} Where the pressing process begins, with the apples being brought in by Joseph Hergott. mwm-mwwmmmmm:m.m. "when I was big enough to help. In 1934 Gordon decided to build his own mill and expand operations. What he built then is still in use today. Powered by a 1922 Overland engine, the redâ€"painted mostlyâ€"wooden press is driven through a complex web of leather straps and pulleys. ‘"What you see here is almost all original," said Joe. "The straps, my father got in Waterloo. When the guy sold them, he told my dad ‘put these in and they‘ll last you a lifetime,""‘ they have." The mill works according to very simple principles â€" apples are carried up an elevator to a vat where they are ground. The ground apples are then "caked" put into layers separated by burlap and wooden slats and then pressed forcing the juice out. Joe estimates the force of the mill at about 20 tons. The product is fresh cider. ‘"Nothing has been done to it. You can freeze it, can it, WATERLOO CHRARONICLE, WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 1987 â€" PAGE 5 make it into bard cider. A lot of people confuse cider with juice. They‘re not the same. Juice has been cooked," said Gerrie. Hergott Cidéer Mill is primarily a custom presser; people bring in their own apples and the Hergotts turn them into cider. It is one of the last small original cider mills left in Southern Ontario, and the Hergott‘s customers, some of whom have been with them since 1932, come from as far away as Fergus and Woodstock. The Hergotts are unique because they will press any amount, from two bushels to 200. Lately, the Hergotts have also started selling their own cider, a combination of pear and apples, dried apples and apple butter. Mmuie in ef ina e co uh m en tss h The mill is still a partâ€"time business, although each family member lends a hand. During peak season, September til December, the Hergotts can be found at the mill each evening and Saturdays from 7 a.m. until the last customer leaves, often after 11 p.m. The stillâ€"frothing freshly pressed apple Melodee Martinuk photostory