08/23/2026
Y’all… we have some BIG news to celebrate in Downtown Lavonia. ❤️🎉
For the second time in three years, Lavonia DDA has been recognized with an Outstanding Promotional Award by our state downtown organization — this time for our social media and Listen Up Lavonia videos!
And when we say this is a big deal… Georgia has 563 cities.
Our little downtown is now a TWO-TIME STATE AWARD WINNER. 🥹
But this story is about so much more than an award.
In 2024, Lavonia received its first Outstanding Promotional Award.
In 2025, our Downtown Development Director completed her mentor program and, alongside Mayor Courtney Umbehant, was invited to teach a class about Lavonia at the Georgia Downtown Conference. The class was packed — literally, people were sitting on the floor — and communities from across the state came up afterward to thank them for sharing Lavonia’s story.
And this year, at the 2026 conference, several communities shared that they had taken ideas they learned from Lavonia and implemented them back home.
That is pretty special.
It means people are watching what is happening here.
They are learning from Lavonia.
They are cheering for Lavonia.
And they are being inspired by Lavonia.
This recognition belongs to our entire downtown community — our businesses, volunteers, DDA Board, City leadership, employees, partners, and every person who continues to show up and believe in what Downtown Lavonia can be.
Thank you for supporting local.
Thank you for attending events.
Thank you for trying new ideas.
Thank you for sharing our story.
And thank you for helping create a culture where we know that when one of us does well, all of us do well.
We still have plenty of work ahead of us — but today, we’re stopping for a minute to celebrate just how far we’ve come.
Downtown Lavonia is being noticed — and that’s because of all of YOU. ❤️
