Middlef ieldPOST Volume 9 ~ Issue6
Oct, 1, 2014
www.middlefieldpost.com
Neighborly News from Middlefield, Parkman, Huntsburg and Surrounding Communities
Bentronix Corp.
By Christina Grand Porter
B
entronix is a one-stop service for their customers in the plastic and rubber industry. They design, build and program custom machinery and industrial control systems for all types of industries. They provide systems integration for all their customers’ control needs; including troubleshooting and maintaining existing control systems, and designing new controls systems for older machinery. Their customer base is local and they like it that way. Company president Brian Lanstrum said, “We’re here to help companies maintain their machinery and upgrade their equipment as new technology becomes available.” They constantly expand to look for control solutions to improve or fix a process. When asked where he saw the company in five years, Lanstrum replied, “Still rooted in Geauga County helping manufacturing companies stay in business.” Lanstrum grew up in Chardon and is a graduate of Chardon High School, but company founder, Peter Benins, has a very different life story. Benins became separated from his parents in Latvia during WWII and came to the U.S. at age 14 to be raised by his grandparents. He had what he calls an instrument background and his interests were in how things worked. He explained that before computers
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PreSort Std U.S. Postage PAID Middlefield, OH 44062 Permit No. 77
onald Kraybill, who is considered our country’s foremost authority on Amish society, spoke recently in Middlefield about his latest book “Renegade Amish.” Kraybill is a modest man with great respect for the Amish and their way of life. He has written many books on Amish culture and his books are translated into eight different languages. At present he is a professor and senior fellow at the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College in Lancaster County, Pa. He is well acquainted with many Amish
In preparing in our area and always for this case the U.S. seeks their advice and government contacted assistance. Donald Kraybill to Most of us can ask for his help in remember the horror of understanding Amish events that occurred so customs. He was also close to us on Sept. 6, called upon to be a 2011. Ten men and six witness and served on women from Bergholz, the witness stand for a Ohio in Jefferson total of five hours. County began their The trials lasted reign of terror by cutting three weeks and off the beard and hair in the end the 16 of their own parents in people involved were Trumbull County. They also terrorized victims Donald Kraybill, Ph.D., introduces his charged with Federal Hate Crimes. This kind i n o t h e r c o u n t i e s , latest book on Amish culture. of attack had never including Holmes and happened before in 300 years of Amish Carroll. There were nine victims in all. The history in the U.S. It was an unprecedented 16 perpetrators, who were involved either crime. Ohio asked the Federal Government directly or as accomplices, were arrested to step in because the crime involved and put on trial in September 2012.
interstate commerce (an example of this was that the horse shears used in cutting the beards were purchased in another state). A federal hate crime also involves causing disfigurement through bodily injury, however temporary. The jury decided that cutting and shaving off beards by force was bodily injury. There were 90 different charges and the so-called Bergholz Barbers were found guilty of 86. The bishop and leader of the Bergholz group was given a 15-year sentence, which he is serving in a Texas prison. Others received seven, five, two or one-year sentences. At the trial each of the 16 had his/her own lawyer, all of whom could question Donald Kraybill. Kraybill spent six months assisting federal prosecutors with the case besides serving as an expert witness. To assist him in writing his book were 2,400 pages of trial transcripts, relatives of the Bergholz Bishop Continued on page 2
Inside ... Postal Customer Local / ECRWSS
OR CURRENT RESIDENT
(l-r) Bentronix founder Peter Benins and president Brian Lanstrum
Amish Historian Speaks
By Nancy Huth
Middlefield Post P.O. Box 626 Middlefield, OH 44062
took over data gathering, machines had to be monitored with meters continuously. He likened meter building to a watchmaker’s job since it involved working with very small parts like springs. He always looked for new ways to do things, better ways to repair and service instruments, and he still does. Benins finds his work at Bentronix extremely interesting. “We always look at new things and stay up with technology to supply the service customers seek,” Benins said. “We’re always looking for that magic widget.” Bentronix was opened for business in 1984. Lanstrum was Benins’ first employee in 1986. Lanstrum went to vocational school for industrial electronics and on to college to study electrical engineering technology while working at Bentronix. Today he is an expert in PLC Programming, Data Acquisition and Machine Controls. Bentronix also utilizes CAD (computer-aided drafting design) and CAM (computer-aided machinery manufacturing) to allow them to build machinery and control systems cost effectively. His wife, Christine, works in the company office, doing, as he puts it, “all the stuff that keeps us moving.” A large number of local companies rely on Bentronix, Continued on page 2
Fall 2014 Inside & Out Middlefield Village Pages 4-5
Cardinal Schools Page 8
Berkshire Schools Page 10
Plain Pages Pages 8-9