MUSCATINE, Iowa —The Voice of Muscatine sounded different this morning with the resignation of Charles Potter, the news director at KWPC radio since 1999.

Potter, who joined the station as a part-time reporter in 1997, resigned on Saturday.

“The demands were becoming too much,” Potter, 61, said this morning.

Potter, who was a fixture at many community events and meetings, said he had been told he would have to take on added duties by becoming host of the KWPC early morning show. That show had been hosted by Ron Vernia, a longtime KWPC employee whose on-air name was Ron Edwin. He quit last month after his hours were reduced.

“I just didn’t see how it was going to be possible,” Potter said of reporting news and being the morning-show host.

DeWayne Hopkins, general manager of the radio station, said it is a case of an award-winning reporter who was unwilling to change.

“We appreciate all he has done for us and wish him well,” Hopkins said. “Our plans are to replace him. It’s just another challenge.”

Potter said he is looking forward to having more time for himself.

“Being 61 and having neglected my family for a long time,” he said. “I just said, ‘I don’t need this anymore.’”

Potter’s family includes his son, Matt Potter, 30, of Muscatine; and daughters, Jamie Belknap, 25, of Muscatine; and Rachel Potter, 19, who is a sophomore at Iowa State University. He also has three grandchildren and a fourth “on the way,” he said.

Potter said he will have more time to devote to the piano-tuning business he took over many years ago in Cedar Rapids from his father. “I’ve been doing it professionally since I was 12,” he said.

He is also an organist at Zion Lutheran Church in Muscatine. “I plan to spend more time there, which should make people there happy if I can correct some of the wrong notes.”