Rome, Cedartown and Calhoun are among the 78 Georgia Better Hometown and Main Street Cities being honored at an awards presentation set for June 25 in Savannah.

The Georgia Department of Community Affairs is sponsoring the event to mark the cities’ 2007 accreditation from the National Main Street Center in Washington, D.C.

Summerville, Cartersville and LaFayette are among the other honorees.

DCA Commissioner Mike Beatty also extended congratulations on Monday to downtown managers that completed a two-day workshop on downtown revitalization in April.

Northwest Georgia attendees included Betty Sue Hickman of the Cave Spring Downtown Development Authority; Leslie Robinson of the Downtown Cedartown Association; Priscilla Corbitt of the Kingston Downtown Development Authority and; from the LaFayette Downtown Development Authority, Frances Cobb, Shannon McConnell and Catherine Edgemon.

Launched in 2003, DCA’s Main Street 101 training program consists of topical presentations, tours of successful projects and hands-on workshops. The training is intended as an introduction to the National Main Street Approach to Downtown Revitalization.

“The results speak for themselves,” Beatty said. “Those Georgia communities that have embraced the concepts and implemented the training have seen their former downtown areas reborn as preferred places to live, work and play.”

Since the program’s inception, more than 450 downtown managers and community leaders have participated in the training