NATCHEZ — Diana Nutter of Natchez, one of the current owners of the WMIS and WTYJ radio stations, said her family has a nearly 80-year history of being the voice of the black community in the South.

Nutter said she hopes to leave a legacy that will continue under new management after the sale of the radio stations is completed soon.

Nutter said the stations, broadcasting in Southwest Mississippi and Central Louisiana, are most widely used to broadcast local announcements, gospel and R&B music.

“We have a huge listening audience in the Miss-Lou community,” Nutter said. “If someone wants to get their message out, we would be the ones to do it.”

Gregory Adams is in the process of buying out WMIS/WTYJ. Adams said he is looking forward to serving the Miss-Lou community on the air hopefully by the beginning of next month.

“I am definitely excited and looking forward to working with the entire community,” Adams said. “This is a very humbling experience.”

Adams, owner of the Wilk-Amite Record newspaper since 2014 and a U.S. veteran, said he hopes to become one of the few black American radio broadcasters in the Southwest Mississippi and Central Louisiana regions.

The buyout is pending approval of the Federal Communications Commission, which is a 90-day process with a little more than 40 days left, Adams said, adding the transition should be seamless.

“I am coming in for an observation period, if you will,” Adams said. “I am not looking to make any changes immediately. Format wise, staff wise and everything will remain the same. There may be a few administrative adjustments for the company outside of that. I’m excited about being able to work with (the current staff) and our goal is to grow the business. Everything should be seamless.”

Nutter said her father, P.K. Ewing Jr., and grandfather, P.K. Ewing Sr., went live on the air with WMIS in May 1941 and had stations in Gulfport, Vicksburg, Jackson and Greenwood.

Diana and Jim Nutter later bought WTYJ 97.7 when it was off the air and brought it back in September 1986.

“The business has been in my family since it was built,” Nutter said. “I’ve worked other jobs but ended up right back here. Now I’m 81 and still work every day. … It’s time for me to go home. I plan on staying and working part-time.”

Nutter said she plans to pass the torch to Adams’ hands to keep the station alive and running long after she is gone.

“We were pioneers in radio, but things are so different today,” she said. “The world has changed. I’m proud of what we are today, and we’ve been that way for more than 30 years. … The fact that we stay alive is rare. You can open the front door and talk to someone that is on the air. If you want a song played, you can call and request it.

That is what keeps us alive, different and part of the community.”

Adams said he would be working out of his administrative office in Gloster and would kick-off an annual bus tour in March highlighting the legacy of the Ewing family and staff and potentially grow the business.

The tour would begin in Houston, Texas, at the Livestock Show and Rodeo and, after a month, make its way back into Mississippi and Louisiana with short stops along the way, Adams said.