COEUR d'ALENE - For Gary and Jeanne Norton, great citizenship has gone hand-in-hand with their success owning and operating Silverwood Theme Park.

For that, they were honored Thursday with the Citizen of the Year Award for 2013.

Last year's Citizen of the Year, Wayne Longo, announced the award at the 101st annual Coeur d'Alene Chamber luncheon at The Coeur d'Alene Resort. The Nortons, who are Athol residents, were in Florida Thursday for work.

Longo, Coeur d'Alene's recently-retired police chief, listed some of the Nortons' contributions. The list is long, but here are some highlights:

Silverwood supported 1,543 individual jobs this year, and provided a $79.5 million economic impact, Longo said.

The park is the largest tourism draw in the state.

"One of their favorite quotes is, 'We are not an island, it is our responsibility to help out our neighbors,'" Longo said.

They've done just that, donating tons of food and tens of thousands of dollars in cash to area food banks. They've also donated tens of thousands of dollars to The Children's Village, a Coeur d'Alene nonprofit that provides a safe home for children who might not otherwise have one.

Additionally, they are major sponsors of the area visitor centers.

"Each year they provide an evening of fun for the area's physically and mentally challenged young people at (Silverwood)," Longo said. "They have created a literacy program encouraging over one million hours of reading for the past 15 years for young children."

Gary Norton, 65, reached by phone after the luncheon, said he and Jeanne are honored.

"The park is done out of passion more than business and (giving back to the community) is just an extension of that," Norton said. "We just love to be part of the community."

Volunteer of the Year went to Brent Lyles, vice president of Elk Point Enterprises Inc. in Coeur d'Alene.

Kiki Miller, last year's winner, said Lyles' quiet demeanor "proves that still waters run deep, especially in community involvement."

He holds the post of secretary for the Coeur Group and is the chamber's business development committee chairman.

Lyles moved to Coeur d'Alene in 2005 from California. He first worked at Transtector Systems, and then in 2008 he created the business development firm Elk Point with a business partner.

"As far as volunteering goes, I've always been a big fan of the chamber of commerce," Lyles said. "It was part of what helped me get connected to Transtector when I moved out here."

Diane Higdem, an event coordinator for the chamber, said, "He's always been such a great promoter of everything we put on."

Lyles, 40, who lives in the Coeur d'Alene area, said he is humbled by the award.

"You look out in that room and you see a lot of people in this community who really do a lot of great things," he said in an interview.