DOTRA'S ... DotLine ...

SPRING LUNCHEON PLANS ARE UNDERWAY

Block out Monday, March 12th for the DOTRA Spring Luncheon. Joe and Marian Bodnar have arranged for a return visit to Charlie's Other Brother in Mount Holly for the Spring get together. Check the attached flyer for details and send in your reservation soon!!

DINNER THEATER BUS TRIP IN MAY !!!
By Dee Murphy

The DOTRA's first bus trip of 2001 is planned for Wednesday May 9th to see "The King and I" at the Fiesta Dinner Theater in Woodridge, NJ. A wonderful meal has been planned, along with a great musical show, and even strolling musicians to entertain the group prior to the show. The bus will leave the NJDOT parking lot on Farrell Avenue in Ewing at 9:30 AM and will return before 6 PM. Cost of ticket is $ 45.00. Join the fun early and send in your reservation quickly. Details and reservation form are attached to this issue of DOTLINE. See you on the bus!!

HOLIDAY PARTY - BIG SUCCESS!!!!
By Chet Andres

The Annual Holiday Party held on December 7th was a jingle-bell success. More than 140 DOTRA members and guests celebrated the holiday season, singing along with the music and song of Lou Giovi and talented son, Mark. The food was exceptionally tasty, prizes plentiful and many folks left saying we have to come back next year. What a great way to end the DOTRA social year 2000 and anticipate another great year in 2001 !!

DOTRA BOARD MEETINGS

DOTRA BOARD MEETINGS ARE HELD MONTHLY ON THE FIRST TUESDAY OF THE MONTH.

DOTRA will hold its next regular Monthly meeting on Tuesday, February 6th.

MEMBERSHIP REPORT
By Guy LoBue

I am happy to report that our membership is holding at around 400. What is interesting is that our members reside throughout the country. They are located in Arizona (2), California (4), Florida (41), Maine (1), New Hampshire (1), North Carolina (2), Pennsylvania (12), South Carolina (2), Tennessee (1), Virginia (2), Vermont (1), and the remaining in New Jersey. As of the printing of this newsletter, 33 hold Life Memberships.

I believe that our DotLine is one of the most important factors that keeps our organization together. It provides the link of WHO is doing WHAT and WHERE; of upcoming activities, communicationa between members and goals of our organization. If you have a computer - our WebSite is an easy means of information or contact another member, even in another State.

We owe a debt of gratitude to Dot Andres, with help from Dee Wisneski, in composing, editing, and putting together the DotLine. It takes time and a great deal of effort.

As you can see, it is necessary for the membership to provide us with items to share; such as vacation trips, good dining locations, people you have encountered, shows, hobbies, experiences, accomplishments, etc. Please drop us a line.

DOTRA's DUES - WE NOW HAVE A LIFE MEMBERSHIP AVAILABLE !!

DOTRA is offering a Life Membership option. For a single time cost of $75.00, become a Life Member and don't worry about those Annual Dues. The Annual Dues option of $10.00 per year will remain as our main renewal procedure and you can still find your Annual Renewal Date on the DOTRA Mailing Label.

To accomplish renewal as a Life Member, complete the Application Form at the end of this issue, check off the appropriate Renewal Box and forward to the DOTRA Mail Box.

NEW MEMBERS JOIN DOTRA

We welcome the following retirees who have recently joined our organization:

Jacob Goldberg Traffic Engineering
Anne B. Lund (Fred Lund)    Assoc Member
Sue Alfano    Personnel
Jean Banks    Acctg & Audit
I. B. Senyk    ProjSupport & Engrg
Anthony Tavalare    Const & Maint
Judith Scymanski    Design

Once again, these are familiar names to some of our members. We hope to see you at our social functions and monthly meetings.

WELCOME!

Recent Obituaries:

Charles Brady   (65)   DOT 1991
Stephen Sabo   (85)   DOT ?
Daniel Hess    (81)   DOT 1988
George Earle Jr.    (77)   DOT 1986
Celestine Peterson-Wilson   DMV ?
Herbert Miller Sr.    (76)   DOT 1989
Mildred Smeraldi    (86)   DOT ?
John Nettleton    (66)    DOT 1989
Vincent Gervasoni    (79)   DOT ?
Hyman Farber    (79)   DOT 1987
Eileen Murphy    (97)   DOT ?
Agnes St. John    (99)   DOT ?
Rudolf Tusche    (78)   DOT ?

Recuperating at home:

We often hear of someone having been ill and hopefully are well on the way to better health by the time we publish our quarterly issue of DotLine. During the last few months we've heard about the following of our friends:

John Griffith - Maintenance
Peg Weiger - Maintenance
Ted Kiselewicz - Bridge Design

We're sure they would appreciate a call or a card.

DOTRA EXECUTIVE BOARD
OFFICERS

PRES.-Dick Hobson
1st VP -Guy LoBue
2nd VP- Walter Gable
TREAS -Frank Herrera
REC.SEC-Hazel Rockhill
CORRES.SEC-Dee Wisneski

DIRECTORS

Joseph Bodnar    Dolores Murphy
Mary Stafford    Don Hutchinson
Wilma Gruzlovic    Peg Wieger
Chet Andres    Bob Wokoun
Adrian Lincoln

COMMITTEES

CHAPLAIN -      Guy LoBue
MEMBERSHIP -    Guy LoBue
BY-LAWS -     Chet Andres
HISTORIAN -     Wilma Gruzlovic
ACTIVITIES -     Dolores Murphy
DOTLINE -      Dot Andres & Dee Wisneski
WEBSITE -      Kristina Erin Kaye 609-918-0603

NJDOT EMPLOYEE MEMORIAL

The NJDOT Memorial Committee is continuing its Fund Drive for the Memorial erected to honor NJDOT employees killed in the line of duty. They continue to sell items such as candles, candy, hats, T-shirts and leather portfolios. They have held a silent auction and golf tournament, greatly supported by current employees. The major bulk of monetary donations has been made by retirees.

The Memorial committee will continue its efforts to raise funds to pay for flowers and landscaping expenses for the memorial. Help also is being sought in planting, cleaning and other maintenance of the site. If any DOTRA members can donate some time to the Memorial Committee, please call NJDOT's Mary Beth Whittaker at 609-530-4369.

NJDOT needs HELP!!!

Once again DOTRA has been requested by the NJDOT Division of Human Resources to solicit assistance from its membership for filing and minor clerical tasks in the OFFICE of HUMAN RESOURCES. Richard L. Page of Human Resources writes:

"Retirees welcome !!!"

"The Division of Human Resources would gladly welcome any retiree who would like to volunteer to help with our filing needs. The Division is constantly faced with a large volume of paperwork that needs to be filed. A major purging and reorganization has begun this year. Schedules will be arranged for your convenience. Interested retirees can contact Gerry Anselmo at 609-530-2114 for more information. "

Anyway who feels they would like to "go back to work" and do something meaningful for a few hours a week, other than play golf , shop, play, watch the grandkids, travel, play golf, shop on line, watch the grandkids, go on senior bus trips, watch the grandkids, go to AC, watch TV, are suggested to contact Gerry Anselmo.

HISTORIANS CORNER
Submitted by Wilma Gruzlovic

"History of the State Highway System:
Funding Poured into Highways by 1930's

Taken from "Development of the State Highway System," a booklet written in the !960's by John F. Summers of the N.J. State Highway Department's Bureau of Public Information.

Eleventh in a Continuing Series.

Following World War I the automobile came into more common use and the need for more and better routes was immediately evident. Also, the demand was created to "get the farmer out of the mud" and this resulted in many hard-surfaced roads being constructed by counties as well as by the State in the more sparsely settled sections of New Jersey. Late in the 1920's roads were widened to three lanes and emphasis was placed upon the further development of the intersection. This was the period when New Jersey built its first clover-leaf and first traffic circles, as well as its first divided roadways. State highway expenditures reached their peak in the early '30's when many new routes were built and dual highways became the design standard where traffic volumes justified their construction.

Bridge design also underwent a change during this period with the trend being more and more to the high-level permanent type of bridge rather than the movable bridge which held up traffic, the volume of which was increasing rapidly each year.

Organizational refinements of the Highway Department were undertaken by the Legislature during the period of highway construction and expansion. In 1923, the eight-man commission was replaced legislatively by a four-member commission, then in 1935 completely supplanted with a single Highway Commissioner to serve under the Governor as administrative and executive head of the Department.

TRENTON TITANS HOCKEY
TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE

Frank Herrera has arranged for a second DOTRA night at the Trenton Titans Hockey games at the new Sovereign Arena in Trenton. This is a great new facility with plenty of safe parking! There are tickets available at a cost of $8.00 each for the following events:

Friday night February 23rd at 7:30 PM- Titans vs. Dayton Bombers

Contact Frank Herrera at 609-392-0633 for tickets!

DOTRA now has its own Website on the Internet.

The Website can be accessed at:

http://www.dotra.org

Dial in and let us know how you like it. We are in the formative stages and would like your input. Also, members have indicated a desire to contact DOTRA members via e-mail messages. Record your e-mail address with DOTRA via the Web Site. DOTRA's WebSite Manager Kristina Erin Kaye (ROW) is to be congratulated for the very professional looking Web Page.

7th FLORIDA REUNION SCHEDULED
FOR FEBRUARY 13th

Time is flying by and we are now into the new millennium. Deep philosophical questions will not be discussed at the 7th Florida Reunion in Rockledge, says Chairman Frank Wegel (Materials), just a lot of fun and nostalgia with your "old co-workers.". Frank and wife Kathy hope that you have included a trip to the DOTRA Reunion in your winter plans and that you have saved Tuesday, February 13th 2001 for a day trip to Rockledge Florida. Rockledge Country Club is located just off I-95 at exit #74 on Fiske Boulevard.. For those persons who will be traveling a distance to get there, Frank has arranged for hotel accommodations at the Hilton Ocean Front in Cocoa Beach Florida. Special rates of $85.00 have been arranged but you must specifically mention the NJ DOTRA Reunion. when you call for reservations and rates. The phone number is 800-526-2609 Ext. 7153. For those late comers who have just made up their minds to attend, please contact Frank for further information

Frank Wegel
8060 142nd Street
Sebastian, FL 32958
Phone: 561-388-3991

WHERE IN THE WORLD HAVE YOU BEEN ??

The DOTRA mailbox received a nice note from Jack Datz (Design). Jack and his wife attended the Passion Play in Oberammergau, Germany this past summer with a tour group of forty. The play has been held for over 450 years, every 10 years. "It was truly worthwhile," says Jack.

A Report was filed from California by Marty Van Riper (Construction), now a resident of Lake Arrowhead, California. In October, Marty and wife Lonnie took a 2 week trip to the islands of Hawaii with their two daughters and granddaughter. They spent the first week on the island of Kauai and the second on Oahu. Marty said that he made may trips through the islands when in the air force and was amazed of the changes in the Honolulu area. While in Honolulu they stayed at Fort DeRussy recreational area in a hotel called the Hale Koa situated on 79 acres on Wakiki Beach. Hawaii is truly a paradise and the whole family returned tanned and looking forward to a return trip. Upon return to Southern California, Marty immediately left for New Jersey to attend a military reunion held in Cherry Hill. On December 3rd, Marty and Lonnie were scheduled to meet with Betty and Jim Schuyler (C&M) , now residing in Riverside, California for a bus tail gate party to San Diego to see the San Diego/ San Francisco football game.

Richard E. Phillips (Office of Safety)- his renewal has caught up with us. He writes that he "has been travelling and working on merchant ships out of Savannah, GA. Russia, Australia and New Zealand, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Vietnam, and Japan. In March it will be South America." Now that sounds like an interesting retirement !!!

Cliff Heckman (Materials) e-mailed our members that he and wife Dorothy left New Jersey for the winter on December 18th and headed south. First stop to visit with newly arrived grandson Christopher in Alexandria , Virginia, and then on to Naples and favorite place - Tarpon Cove. Still active in TRB, Cliff will be attending the annual meeting in Wahington DC, as well as the World of Concrete Conference. Back to Sarasota and perhaps a chance to attend the Florida reunion. Happy New Year to all, says Cliff.

HERE AND THERE
By Dot Andres

Nice to hear from Walter Hillier (Materials, Design and ROW) who writes, "Although I have not been able to attend any functions, I enjoy meeting old friends and reading about what they are doing. DOTRA is a fine organization. Please keep it going." We certainly will try, Walter. Jim Morrison informs us that he and wife Bev will be moving to The Villages in Lady Lake, Florida in November 2002 and is already looking forwardn to the 2002 Reunion.

Al Alaimo (C&M) says "Hi to Andy Zalescik.(Eqt.)"

Bill Howarth (C&M) says, "I really appreciate what the officers, directors and committees are doing to keep DOTRA alive. I look forward to receiving DOTLINE and am planning to make the Holiday lunch and the trip to Florida in February. Hope the new membership applications outperform the obits!"

Emily Bitter (ROW), now resides in Orlando Florida. "I enjoy receiving DOTRA's DotLine. Give my regards to all, especially Walt Gable. Who could forget him?"

Frank Wegel (Materials) reports from Sebastian Florida that Al Alaimo (C&M), Frank and wife Kathy Wegel were all awarded certificates as Outstanding Volunteers of 2000 by the St. Sebastian RiverBuffer Preservation group. Also, Al and Frank were given a special award as the "Dynamic Duo for best team work."

Francis "Bob" Fitzpatrick (ROW) writes that he and wife are doing well down there in Burlington and hopes the same for all DOTRA people. His advice to you - "the best time to relax is when you don't have time for it."

Chuck Monahan (Landscape Architecture) sent in his Life Membership along with a note. Chuck writes, " wife Bev retired from the Ewing School system and we've moved to Gratham, New Hampshire. Lots of snow and cold this winter."

HAVE YOU NOTICED THAT DOTRA DOES NOT PUBLISH ADDRESSES OR TELEPHONE NUMBERS?

We always strive to protect our membership from "junk mail" or unsolicited mail and therefore never have distributed our Membership List. However, we know that you may want to re-connect with former coworkers and do not know how to contact them. Just send us your written request, along with person's name and last work location. We will do our best to locate them and we'll send your note to them to contact you directly.