In honor of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," Tim Burton's retelling of Roald Dahl's book about a boy's visit to Willy Wonka's factory, the Trib p.m. explored some of the region's own candy makers.
There weren't any Oompa Loompas in sight, no trained squirrels to sort nuts, no Rube Goldberg-esque machines sputtering and spewing steam to produce a single candy.
Still, there's something innately awe-inspiring that comes with watching row after row of nuts, jellies or pretzels work their way through walls of flowing melted chocolate or tasting a chocolate-covered cherry fresh off the line. No golden ticket necessary.
Betsy Ann Chocolates
It seems that Charlie liked the chocolate factory so much, he decided to stick around and become head of production.
OK, so Charlie goes by Chuck. And Chuck Gamrod doesn't work for Willie Wonka, but Betsy Ann.
But talk to him about chocolate -- even after 17 years at Betsy Ann American Chocolates in West View -- and his eyes light up just like Charlie Bucket's.
"How do you think I got this big belly?" he says, rubbing his stomach. "The problem is, I have to taste all day long."
Some problem -- Gamrod is surrounded by vats of milk and dark chocolate and trays piled high with freshly roasted cashews, cherries and marshmallows he made himself the day before.
"Everything is handmade," he says as he surveys strawberries being hand dipped into fondant to create strawberry cordials. "If you wanted to find two chocolate strawberries that looked alike, you'd have a better shot at finding two snowflakes."
Co-owner Karen Paras said not much has changed since her father-in-law Harry Paras bought the company from the original Betsy Ann in 1968.
"We still do everything the very old-fashioned way," she said. "And if it's not the top quality crop, we won't use it."
The strawberries still need two coats of milk chocolate before they're ready to ship out, but the cherry cordials just need one more coat of dark chocolate before they're ready to be sent to the company's dozen retail stores.
The cherries are loaded by hand onto a small conveyor belt where they are sent through a flowing wall of chocolate.
Once coated, Harry Paras -- who has since sold Betsy Ann to his son and daughter-in-law Jim and Karen Paras -- marks each cherry by hand with a swirly 'C.' Each marking, or cording, is unique to each type of chocolate.
His favorite chocolate to mark? "The chocolate meltaway," he says wryly. "It doesn't have any."
Sarris Candies
It might not be the Wonka factory, but Sarris Candies and Ice Cream Parlour in Canonsburg might be Washington County's own Candyland.
Chandeliers look like giant lollipops. Displays with odd little levers dispense chocolate candies, jelly beans and sour sugar powders. And then there's the massive chocolate castle, complete with bricks of milk chocolate bars and spires made of hard candy.
"It makes people feel good," says owner Frank Sarris. "When people come in, they smile when they see a place like this."
Behind the bright red double doors of the 100-yard-long shop is the plant where the chocolates are produced and packaged. Inside, trays of molded chocolates await packaging, while workers upstairs make yet another batch of chocolate-covered pretzel rods -- one of the company's best sellers.
"We cannot make enough of them," says Bob Veres, an employee with Sarris for almost 40 years, as a conveyer belt beside him sends rows of the rods through two layers of milk chocolate and a cooling tunnel.
It's a far cry from the single copper kettle with which Sarris started his business out of the basement of his home. He says it took him two months to get the chocolate just right.
"I started with caramels," he says with a smile. "I almost burnt the house down."
Despite the early setbacks, business caught on -- Sarris opened up his retail shop in 1963 beside his home and soon began buying up adjacent properties to expand his business.
Today, Sarris' shop and plant take up an entire block. He keeps four warehouses stocked on a nearby property and bought a second plant four years ago -- Gardners Candies in Tyrone.
"If you have good quality stuff, you can't miss," says Sarris, 73. "But you have to be patient, you have to put the time in and be dedicated."
And a love of chocolate helps, too.
"I eat it all the time," Sarris says.
Sherm Edwards Candies
Catherine Bowser just laughs at the idea of getting sick of the chocolate she sees -- and tastes -- every day as a worker at Sherm Edwards Candies in Trafford, Westmoreland County.
"I wish I would get sick of it," says Bowser, who's now in her 26th year at the company. "I've loved chocolate ever since I was a child."
Owner David Golembeski says the policy of his company, started in 1972 by stepfather Sherman Edwards and his mother Dorothy, is that employees can eat as much as they want while they're on the job.
And they've taken him up on the offer.
"Everyone said, 'You'll get tired of it after a while,'" says Darlene Worley, an employee at the factory for four years. "You don't get tired of it."
Golembeski hasn't grown tired of it. Instead of working in an office, he chooses to make all of the jellies, creams and other fillings for the chocolates himself.
"When you get to be the owner, you get to choose the best job in the building, and that's making the candy," he says, stirring a copper kettle full of blueberries and sugar that will eventually serve as the filling for chocolate-coated jellies.
He also develops new ideas for candies. One of the latest is a hot chocolate meltaway -- the chocolate center is flavored with cayenne pepper.
But he can't take credit for one of the more unusual candies Sherm Edwards produces -- the chocolate-covered pickle. It dates back to the days when Edwards operated out of a shop on East Ohio Street on the North Side -- a block or so from the Heinz plant.
"It's maybe the strangest thing we do," he says.
Of course, Golembeski says he has a plan in the event that he gets an employee of the Augustus Gloop variety.
"If we find someone abusing the policy," he says with a smile, "we'll weigh them in in the morning and then we'll weigh them in at night."
You've got the golden ticket
They might not have chocolate rivers or pint-sized workers ready to cart off ill-behaving children, but at least you won't need to eat your weight in Wonka bars to get inside some of the region's tastiest chocolate factories.
In fact, most of the factory tours offered by candy companies are not only free, but also include samples.
Daffin's Candies
Where: Shop: 496 E. State St., Sharon; Factory: 7 Spearman Ave., Farrell
What: Tours of the candy factory won't pick up again until September, but chocolate lovers looking for a fix this summer can check out Daffin's "Chocolate Kingdom" at the retail store in Sharon year round. It features a 400-pound turtle, 125-pound reindeer and 75-pound frogs a village and castles made entirely out of chocolate.
Details: 877-323-3465; www.daffins.com
Gardners Candies
Where: 30 W. 10th St., Tyrone
What: Just how do they get the peanut butter encased in chocolate for a peanut butter meltaway without having it, well, melt away? The 108-year-old company, best known for the peanut-buttery confections, offers tours beginning in September that could come close to answering the age-old question.
Details: 800-24-CANDY, www.gardnerscandies.com
Sherm Edwards Candies
Where: 509 Cavitt Ave., Trafford
What: Tours at this factory run year round and include free treats, but for a real sugar buzz-inducing, belly-busting experience, check out the company's annual open house in November. For $6 ($3 for kids younger than 12), you get a tour of the factory and all the chocolate you can eat from the store upstairs.
Details: 412-372-4331
Hershey's Chocolate World
Where: 800 Park Blvd., Hershey
What: If larger-than-life Hershey Kisses and Reese's Cups parading around aren't enough to attract you to the mother of all chocolate factories, then perhaps the promise of free samples will. Among the highlights at Hershey's -- which is open year-round -- is a ride through a simulated factory that comes with a chocolate-y treat at the end.
Details: 800-HERSHEY, www.hersheyschocolateworld.com.
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