October 1, 1997

In the burgeoning Germantown community where the landscape seems to change daily, there remains at least one constant: a barrel-shaped historical landmark conspicuously located on Route 355.

As sure as the autumn leaves fall each year, the Cider Barrel opens for another season of fresh apple cider.

Germantown resident William Cross, who turns 81 this month, owns the business that has been turning out the famous cider since 1925.

"It's a long standing tradition to come up and get cider," Cross said.

The Cider Barrel was born in the early 1920s, when the Volstead Act prohibiting alcoholic beverages was in effect. A wealthy insurance entrepreneur, Andrew Baker, capitalized on the situation by turning his Germantown apple orchard into a profitable venture.

In 1928, two sisters opened a sandwich shop next door to the Cider Barrel. Twelve-year-old William Cross was the son of one of the women. After Baker's death in 1930, the Cross family bought the Cider Barrel and continued the beverage legacy.

The red, white, and blue-faced barrel is a unique attraction that keeps people coming back, not for the looks, but for the taste.

The cider stand is open for the fall season only -- September through November -- seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Besides the signature drink, the stand boasts several types of preserves including apple and pumpkin butter, and sells fresh apples, flowers and seasonal vegetables.

Cross and second-year business partner Gene Bollinger won't reveal the 72-year-old cider recipe, but say the secret lies in a combination of three to six types of perfectly ripened apples as the main ingredient.

"The blend hasn't changed," Cross said.

What keeps customers coming back is the Cider Barrel's reputation that is passed from generation to generation.

"We take a little more precaution to maintain a certain flavor," Bollinger said. "We have to search for that particular apple sometimes."

"There is a certain sense of satisfaction to have a product that people drive from all around the country to obtain," Cross said.

The Cider Barrel uses a modern stainless steel belt press to make the cider, replacing an old-fashioned hydraulic press that used rags and racks to drain the apples. The newer press can produce up to 300 gallons of cider an hour under optimum conditions.

Currently, the apples for the cider come from Bollinger's orchard in Thurmont.

In 1989, the Cider Barrel was deemed a historical landmark by the Montgomery County Historical Society, protecting it from any future development on the site.

However, the surrounding landscape has changed over the decades, eroding the business's parking lot to make way for the high-capacity Route 355 at its doorstep.

Business has dropped off because of the road configuration and traffic congestion, but the Cider Barrel marches on, Cross said.

Cross said he hopes residential growth will benefit business for the Cider Barrel as it moves into the next century with a new generation of cider lovers.

The owner doesn't plan to retire from the business and will continue to come back each fall as his mother did until she died at age 96. Cross also continues to maintain a trailer park next to the Cider Barrel off Route 355 that he has owned since the 1950s.

"I intend to live to be 100 years old," he said.

Cross, a retired naval engineer, keeps part-time hours at the Cider Barrel now, but still enjoys the work that can stretch into 18-hour days. It is the work that is the secret to longevity, he said.

"It gets into your bones, I tell ya. It gets into your system."

Despite the Cider Barrel's consistent success, Cross doesn't plan to expand or improve the secret recipe. "We've got a set routine that works," he said.