In the early 1970's the only active two meter repeater club was across the bay in Tampa. Several of us who were just a bit younger and bit more active, we liked the Bicycle races, the marathons, parades and other public service events and most of these were in Tampa.
Our wives were not licensed and couldn't take part and at that time there few women in the repeater club. The auto patch which has always been a drawing card was located in Hillsborough rather than Pinellas County.
The idea of a social family type club with picnics, transmitter hunts, and meetings where wives could attend and a have voice in the operation and have a local auto patch sprung up as THE FRIENDLY FAMILY CLUB.
We Had coffee breaks often and they afforded an opportunity talk and have fun. The club grew and we finally found a home for the repeater in the morgue at Metropolitan Hospital.
Lots of 'dead signals' were experienced before that mess of used equipment began functioning as a dependable repeater. Metro was Incorporated as a Non Profit Corporation on the 17 of June 1976. The official Name is Metropolitan Repeater Association, but over the years it has been Shortened to METRO.
