DOTRA'S ... DotLine ...

We are on into 2004. This is a transition year, the first without the guidance of Guy LoBue. I, along with your Board of Directors, will aim at continuing the excellent precedents set in the past years by Guy and all those who have volunteered their time and services to make DOTRA the great organization it has become. As many of you know, Guy was an original founder of DOTRA. Along with others, he constantly strove to bring in new members who represented the broad spectrum of NJDOT activities. That dedication has resulted in a maintained membership of well over 400 who are scattered throughout the country but are tied together by their friendships and memories from working together. We will miss Guy for his easy going manner and willingness to help anyone at anytime. Our organization continues to thrive through its social activities - picnics, bus trips, monthly meetings, and luncheons - and through DotLine. Even an annual "snowbird" reunion in Rockledge Florida keeps us in touch. We welcome comments and suggestions for social activities and especially look forward to hearing from our members with news of their activities, trips, etc. DOTRA is now going into its 14th year. Why has it lasted? Our members still have strong ties from working together towards common goals such as completion of the Interstate system in New Jersey, maintaining a safe State and Federal highway network, and assisting county and local agency road systems. We have developed a comraderie among our members because of the pride derived from our individual and organizational accomplishments. As far as we know, DOTRA is the only association of its kind among N.J. state agencies. Congratulations go to you DOTRA members!!

HOLIDAY PARTY A BIG SUCCESS
By Chet Andres

On Wednesday December 3rd, there were 128 DOTRA members and friends gathered for the annual Holiday celebration at Diamond's Riverside in West Trenton. Food, drinks and conversation flourished in a very festive atmosphere. Music was provided by Dick Braytenbaugh and numerous door prizes of candy, wine and fruit cakes were distributed to lucky attendees. The Holiday luncheon is always a successful event and well attended. There are always new "old" faces who appear from the past. And, it is always great to particularly see our members who come out and regularly support the DOTRA social gatherings. Thanks to all of you! Happy New Year to All!

It's That Time again! Please check the mailing label on your copy of DotLine for dues paid. Send renewals to DOTRA at P.O. Box 77160, West Trenton, NJ 08628.DOTRA

BOARD MEETINGS AND MONTHLY BRUNCH ... CHANGE IN LOCATION
See details below.

DOTRA will hold its next regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, February 3, 2004. Wildflowers Too in Yardville 255 Route 156 - off S. Broad and Rte. 130 SB. Dutch treat lunch starts at 11:30 - 12:30 Meeting starts promptly at 12:30 PM

All members of DOTRA are welcome!!

CHAPLAIN'S REPORT
By Jay Johnston

We would like to keep informed of any retiree who is ill, confined to their home, or any retiree who needs help in one form or another. Please call Jay Johnston at 609-589-0930, e-mail JayRJohnston@aol.com or write to him at 3 Golden Crest Court, Hamilton Square, N.J. 08691.

Recent Obituaries:
Guy LoBue  40 yrs.  DOT
Helen Heath   25 yr.  MVS
Elizabeth Blatchford  30 yrs.   DOT
Gladys Becker  22 yrs.  DOT
Olga Letierre  24 yrs.  DOT
Elizabeth Brill  25 yrs.  DOT
Stephen B. Czumbil  20 yrs.  DOT
Charles Peak  ?  DOT
Michael Busketa   ?  DOT
Ray Mauer  ?  DOT
Harry Ehrenfeld  ?  DOT
Thomas Murphy  30 yrs.  DOT

A FOUNDER'S PASSING

As you are all well aware of by now, a founder of, president, and the "driving force" of our organization, Guy LoBue, passed away on Thursday November 20, 2003. Guy was quite an accomplished and unique person. He was first and foremost a family man - devoted husband, father, grandfather, and brother (and brother-in-law) and a great cook! Who can forget the great picnics that Guy put together?

Guy was also involved in many community and social activities - the Sunshine Foundation and the Boys and Girls Club are just two that come to mind. One project that Guy was very involved in is the Employee's Memorial at DOT. As a tribute to Guy, DOTRA has donated $500.00 to the Memorial Fund in Guy's name. We have been advised that DOT is planning a site in the Memorial Grotto for Guy. We will publish the dedication date. Thank you, Guy, for all the hard work in establishing DOTRA and keeping it together and functioning andGuy, ..."May the road rise up to meet your feet..."

DOTRA EXECUTIVE BOARD OFFICERS:
ACTING PRESIDENT: Chet Andres   609-818-1921
1ST VICE PRESIDENT: Adrian Lincoln   609-921-3036
ACTING 2ND VICE PRESIDENT: Jay Johnston   609-588-0930
TREASURER: Frank Herrera    609-392-0633
ASSISTANT TREASURER: Dick Hobson   609-737-3227
RECORDING SECRETARY: Hazel Rockhill  609-581-3560
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY: Dee Wisneski  609-771-1489

DIRECTORS /TERM OF OFFICE

Chet Andres  (2005)     Kristina Kaye  (2005)     Dot Andres  (2005)
Adrian Lincoln  (2004)     Joe Bodnar   (2005)     Dolores Murphy  (2005)
Walt Gable  (2004)     Hazel Rockhill  (2005)     Frank Herrera   (2005)
Jim Springstead  (2005)     Richard Hobson  (2004)     Margaret Wieger  (2005)
Don Hutchinson  (2004)     Dolores Wisneski  (2005)

ACTING DIRECTORS:

Paul Bertucinni
Lou Papp
Jay Johnston
Phil Vecere
Mike Lemmo

COMMITTEES:

CHAPLAIN:Jay Johnston 609-588-0930
MEMBERSHIP: Dot Andres 609-818-1921
BY-LAWS:Chet Andres 609-818-1921
HISTORIAN:Vacant
ACTIVITIES:Jim Springstead 609-392-0848
DOTLINE:Dot Andres 609-818-1921 AND Dee Wisneski 609-771-1489
WEBSITE Kristina Kaye 609-918-0603

NEW MEMBERS CORNER

The following NJDOT retirees are welcomed into DOTRA:

Gene E. Strano - Ewing, NJ - Data Processing
Diane Pascoe - New Hope, PA - ROW
Bob Roy - Barnegat, NJ - Traffic Safety
Robert Paul - Hamilton, NJ - Account./Audit.
Paul Vichroski - Mercerville, NJ - Engr. Fac.

LIFE MEMBERS REPORT

Since October 2003, the following DOTRA members have become life members:

Anthony Gelak - Cape Coral, FL - Const.
George Karaffa - Parlin, NJ - Electrical
Bob Roy - New Member - Barnegat, NJ - ROW

We thank all of you - old & new - for supporting DOTRA

LIFE AFTER THE NJDOT - WHAT HAVE WE BEEN DOING??

We are constantly hearing about how busy recent retirees are and how they cannot understand how they ever had time to go to work!! Maybe that's because we are out there working very hard to have fun - or to do good to others. We'd like to meet and hear about some of our members and their companions. Participate in the fun and share your lives with the rest of us!!

RETURN TO INDIA
By Navinchandra Patel

I retired on July 1, 2002 after working for 29 years in the Department, retiring from Bridge Design - Inspection. My first long vacation was from January 2 to March 3, 2003, approximately 80 days, in India. My second one will be December 3, 2003 to June 2, 2004, 180 days, in India - the longest possible. The reason - weather here is cold, snow, ice, and freezing rain causing restricted physical mobility due to problem joints. Weather there is 58 to 115 degrees, a relief from the cold weather and allowing for less restricted mobility. Navinchandra has been a Life member of DOTRA since the beginning of his retirement.

TRAVELS WITH PHIL - Part I A Trip to Warsaw, Krakow, Budapest, & Prague
By Phil Vecere ( Maintenance)

After a late afternoon departure from JFK on Lufthansa, we arrived in Frankfurt, Germany at approximately 8:00 A.M. and transferred to Polish Airlines to Warsaw. Immigration was quite smooth. Our tour bus took us on a short tour of Warsaw before check in at 2:00 P.M. Our first impression of Poland was quite pleasant - exceptionally clean and the people very friendly. Mass transit, both bus and trolley, was very efficient and fares reasonable ( approximately 60 cents American ). Getting used to their currency was a little problem ( they are not using the Euro yet ). By tour bus we visited the Jewish Warsaw Ghetto and the Memorial of Heroes. Most of the ghetto is now park and monuments. We also visited the Lazienski Palace, the summer residence of the Polish royals.

The gardens are really gorgeous. We took the bus to the beautifully restored 14th century Old Town. This area is closed to vehicular traffic and was entirely rebuilt to its original beauty. This is one of a few authentic restorations in all of Poland. The evening was spent at a great restaurant, by a private piano recital by a world famous pianist.

Departed Warsaw with a stop at Czestochowa to visit Jasna Gora, a Paulite monastery which houses the famed Black Madonna. It was extremely crowded due to the many local Polish pilgrams making their annual visits.

On the way to Krakow, we stopped at Oswiecim for a tour of the Auschwitz/Birkenau museum. The entire museum, at the present time, remains almost exactly as it stood when it was liberated in the early 1940s. The museum covers more than 100 acres in it's two locations, namely the concentration camp at Auschwitz which housed the slave workers, the officers, and security section, the so called court rooms, jail cells, gallows, and cremation ovens. The death camps at Birkenau housed all others awaiting their sure death. There was no possible escape. I will never forget the cold chill I got watching the sun set, on partially cloudy day, over the scores of stable type barracks surrounded by electrified barbed wire fences. The German government is bringing pressure on the Polish to demolish the museum and erect a monument in its place. The Poles will have none of it.

On a pleasant note, we visited a 700 year old salt mine. The mine has since been closed and being used as a museum with miles of tunnels and numerous caverns. It has a large cafeteria, an auditorium and many religious and period sculptures carved in and out of pure rock salt by non-professionals over a period of hundreds of years. No pay or compensation - just a lot of love. All of this has survived because of the preservative nature of rock salt. They are still in excellent condition. I asked why the mine was not bombed during the war. The answer was that there were up to 2,000 slave workers from the concentration camps making aircraft parts for the German war effort. We also visited the 16th century Wawel Royal Castle, the armory, and the cathedral. We walked the Old Town main market square, Cloth Hall (craft shops ) and St. Mary's Church with the famed trumpeter in the bell tower.Although we found a great little Italian restaurant in the Old Town, we also enjoyed the excellent pierogis, mushroom soup with good rye bread and the stuffed cabbage.

To be continued in the next issue

HERE AND THERE
By Dot Andres

Well, time flies by and here we are again down in sunny and relatively warm Florida for the winter season. From the sounds of the weather reports, we are among the lucky folks escaping the severe cold in the North East. Driving south down I-95 just after the Christmas holidays, we could feel the old bones gradually thawing out as we passed through Jacksonville and into central Florida to New Smyrna Beach. How about that early snowfall in the beginning of December??

Our DOTRA mail box always has some news of our members which we are happy to pass on to all of you. Mike Gross (Const.) down in Manchester NJ sends New Year greetings to all his friends. George Karaffa (Elec.) says : "Still playing golf! Hit the ball to the right - is a slice. Hit it left - it's a hook. Hit it down the middle - it's a miracle."

Gene Strano (Data Center/Account.) contacted DOTRA after reading about one of our bus trips in the Trenton Times. Retiring in 1993, she lost touch with her co-workers and is happy to re-connect with her NJDOT co-workers and friends. At the present she is wintering in Lake Worth, Florida and will return North to her Ewing home in late Spring. Glad you were able to find us, Gene! A short note received from Gene Heisel (Account.) now residing in Tucson, Arizona.

Apologies to Al Gallo (Safety). Al should have gotten the credit for the article about the old Chevy coupes which were part of the Highway Department equipment fleet in the 1930's. These remarkable cars had over 140,000 miles on them without any major repairs and General Motors wanted them back. Yeah, probably cost over $600.00 at that time.

A sad telephone call from DOTRA friend Esther Peak in Perth Amboy just before Christmas. Husband Charles Peak (Materials) passed away after a lengthy illness and she wanted his co-workers to know that he cherished his NJDOT connections through the years, even though no longer able to get to any social functions. Charles was a LIFE member of DOTRA and our sympathy to the family.

Frank Wegel (Materials) called to wish everyone a Happy New Year and remind everyone in "the Florida area" that the DOTRA reunion is all planned for Tuesday February 10th and he awaits seeing you. Christmas note from Al Alaimo (C&M) in Sebastian Florida that he is doing well after a brief spell in the hospital. Worth Cunningham (C&M) writes that "he is soldiering on - lonely without partner Phyliss. Regards to all."

A telephone call was received from Herb Forrest (Design) in early December explaining that he and wife Lena would not be attending the Holiday Party. Seems Herb broke an ankle when falling out of his living room chair. Hope you are healed now, Herb - be careful!

Nice to see some new faces at our Holiday party - Dennis Karzaras (Equip.) and Charles Fetterly (Maint.) were there getting reacquainted with former co -workers. Both worked for a time out of the Somerville Yard. Also, there were Louis Coppola (C&M) and wife Dorothy. Nice to see Ceil Witkowski (C&M) with a whole group of girls from the C&M 0ffice - Hazel Rockhill, Joan Fell, Dee Wisneski, and Dee Neuman - catching up on old times. From that same area in the NJDOT were Francine and Mike Kjetsaa. Nely and Art Blanquera (C&M) were up from their new home in The Villages in Florida and were there.

Anita White (ROW) came up from Freehold, sitting with co-workers from Right of Way. The "old" Materials Division was represented by Orville and Vivian Abbott and Sal and Judy Noto. Orville was limping on his bad knees but holiday spirits undampened.

We do not have enough space to mention everyone - just not enough room - but it was so wonderful to see all these former co-workers together again chatting away like it was yesterday. Mostly, it is rewarding too, that DOTRA offers a way for us to meet and keep in touch.

Have a warm, happy and healthy Winter!!

THREE LITTLE BAKERS TRIP
By Jay Johnston

The DOTRA bus to the Three Little Bakers "Home for the Holidays" in Wilmington, Delaware, was a wonderful holiday treat for those who attended. We had beautiful weather. The buffet was excellent and the show put everyone in the holiday spirit. The trip home was topped off by the viewing of "White Christmas" on the bus. It was a real joy as everyone joined Bing Crosby in the singing of White Christmas.

Thanks to those who participated.

ATLANTIC CITY BUS TRIP

Jim Springstead is currently putting the finishing touches on a VIP bus trip to an Atlantic City casino. The trip will include hostess service with donuts, tea, and coffee served on the way to the casino. On the return trip, finger sandwiches, cheese & crackers, and soda will be provided. Seating at tables of four. The information about which casino will be the destination and the coin package will be available after March 1, 2004. The bus accomodates 32 passengers - so, sign up early! Please see the attached flyer for more information regarding the trip.

SPRING LUNCHEON

Joe and Marian Bodnar are busy planning the annual Spring Luncheon. It will be held at Charley's Other Brother in Easthampton Township on March 10, 2004. Please see the attached flyer for more information on the time, menu and to make your reservation.

CHRISTMAS BUS TRIP

Jay Johnston has started planning a bus trip to the Radio City Music Hall in New York to see the annual Christmas Show there. As you can well imagine, this very popular show makes it necessary to make reservations far in advance. Jay does not have a date set yet, but he hopes to get a reservation for us sometime in December. We will publish more information as it becomes available. A flyer will be included with the DotLine issue closer to the date of the trip.

HAWAII TRIP

Jay Johnston is also busy planning a Hawaii trip (not by bus - ha,ha) by plane which will include a cruise on the NCL Pride of America. The trip is scheduled for Friday July 16,2004 through Sunday July 25, 2004.The cost of the trip and more of the itinerary will be published in future editions of DotLine. This is the first trip of this type offered by DOTRA. We are hoping that it will be of interest to enough people to make it successful. Flyer will follow.

Thanks for all your work, Jay.

ANNUAL PICNIC

Dick Hobson, co-chairman with Phil Vecere, reports that everything is in place for our annual picnic. The picnic will be at the Valley Road Picnic Grounds, Belle Mountain (off Rte. 29). The date of the picnic is tentatively set for Wednesday September 8, 2004. Hope for good weather! Flyer will follow in a future issue of DotLine.

FLORIDA REUNION

Don't forget the Florida Reunion luncheon on Tuesday February 10, 2004 at the Rockledge Country Club. Frank Wegel is organizing the reunion and can be reached at 772-388-3991 for information regarding the luncheon.

DOTRA MEMBERSHIP UPDATES ... THIS MAY BE YOUR LAST DOTLINE!!

It is important that you check your mailing label for this issue!! DOTRA is in the process of updating its Membership Roster. This has become necessary as we are not always informed when one of our members moves or passes on and we then receive undeliverable DotLines back in our mail box each quarter. Anyone whose membership dues is indicated as 2002 or earlier will be dropped from membership by April 1st. Please check your last paid date.