Milton Hershey overcomes numerous adversities on his way to building a chocolate empire and a school for orphans.

SYNOPSIS:

In the 1860s, MILTON HERSHEY grew up in Derry Church, Pennsylvania, with his mother, FANNY (practical, hard-working), and his father, HENRY (a dreamer full of get-rich-quick schemes). Having inherited his father's relentless optimism, Milton tries a variety of trades and discovers his life's ambition after apprenticing with candymaker JOSEPH ROYER. At eighteen, he travels to Philadelphia to make his fortune and opens a candy store while employing his family. He goes into debt trying to realize Henry's dreams of making "vending cabinets,” Henry, realizing his son would be better off without him, heads west to find gold.

By the 1880s, Milton's store has failed, and he joins Henry as they try other business ventures. They soon open a New York store specializing in candy and Henry's creations - "cough drops.” While on deliveries, an absent-minded Henry is robbed, and the inventory loss leads to a fight between father and son, causing Henry to leave again. When his store is forced to close, Milton is again at a loss until an old friend, HARRY "LEBBIE" LEBICKER, agrees to invest in a new business in Pennsylvania. Milton opens the Lancaster Caramel Company, and success comes when he finds clients overseas.

By 1887, a wealthy Milton plans to build a factory in Derry Church and rebuild the town where workers and their families can call home. While on business in Jamestown, he falls in love with CATHERINE "KITTY" SWEENEY and surprises his family by marrying her. Milton sells his caramel company to start a new one devoted to a new creation: a milk chocolate bar. Milton reconciles with his father, whom he convinces to return home. Fanny is unhappy about this but takes heart in knowing Milton has his father's optimism but none of his irresponsibility.

As the years pass, Milton introduces his chocolate bar to the world, and Derry Church is renamed "Hershey" as it becomes a thriving factory town. Henry's sudden death affects Milton greatly, and it's revealed Kitty has terrible asthma. As the couple is infertile, she suggests they open an orphanage, an industrial school where boys are raised and taught. The boys become Kitty's passion, and when she dies from her illness, the grieving Milton transfers his entire fortune to the school, making it one of the wealthiest in the country.

Milton never stops dreaming as he continues to try new ideas and inventions. As a self-made man who rises above his circumstances, he epitomizes the American dream. There are people in history who should never be forgotten, and Milton Hershey died in 1945, proving he is one to remember.

HERSHEY