Lou Morneau of Auburn loads apples onto a conveyor belt Thursday at the Stukas Farm in Lewiston. Morneau is one of the former General Electric employees who come to the farm Thursdays each fall to help make apple cider. Farm owner Dick Stukas worked at GE in Auburn for 30 years and made a few good friends while doing so. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Ron Johansen, left, of Lewiston and Gary, who preferred not to give his full name, unload leftovers Thursday from the apple cider-making process at the Stukas Farm in Lewiston. Johansen is one of the former General Electric employees who comes to the farm Thursdays each fall to help make apple cider. Farm owner Dick Stukas worked at GE in Auburn for 30 years and made a few good friends while doing so. Johansen has been volunteering at the farm for the past five cider seasons. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Dick Stukas moves pallets Thursday on the Stukas Farm in Lewiston. Stukas, 73, retired from General Electric in Auburn and a few of his GE colleagues come to the farm Thursdays each fall to help make apple cider. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Layers of mashed apples are pressed into apple cider Thursday at the Stukas Farm in Lewiston. Volunteers come to the farm Thursdays during the cider season to help farm owner Dick Stukas make cider. Thursday was the fourth press day of the season. Stukas said they may have two more days to make cider. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Ron Johansen of Lewiston adds blocks of wood to the apple cider press Thursday at the Stukas Farm in Lewiston. Johansen is one of the former General Electric employees who comes to the farm each Thursday each fall to help make cider. Farm owner Dick Stukas worked at GE in Auburn for 30 years and made a few good friends while doing so. Johansen has been volunteering at the farm for the past five cider seasons. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Apple cider is pressed from layers of mashed apples Thursday at the Stukas Farm in Lewiston. Making cider is labor intensive. Farm owner Dick Stukas has little luck in finding good employees, so he relies on former colleagues from 30 years of working at General Electric in Auburn to help make cider each fall. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Dick Stukas finishes unloading apples into the cider barn Thursday on the Stukas Farm in Lewiston. Stukas, 73, retired from General Electric in Auburn and a few of his GE colleagues come to the farm Thursdays each fall to help make apple cider. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Susan Stukas carries crates of apples Thursday from the barn at the Stukas Farm in Lewiston. A late frost while trees were in bloom last spring and an abundance of rain over the summer causing scab challenged the apple growing season this year, Stukas said. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal