Meet Your Neighbor

Jeff Server says he is a person who notices and appreciates details. He has applied these talents as a videographer and landscape photographer, as a gas industry accountant and as an active volunteer at Niwot events. He and his wife Dawn Reeb Server have lived at Meadow Lake Farm off of N. 79th Street for six years.

Server, the second of four boys, grew up in Ames, Iowa. When he was 14 he joined a summer field crew of about 100 to 150 young men. They detasseled the corn in preparation for hybridization and he learned the value of $1.65 per hour combined with long work days. At the end of one season he was able to purchase a mini-bike, which he enjoyed riding on nearby dirt trails. In retrospect, from his work in the fields he also learned something important about himself. He said he was "greatly inspired by beautiful rural landscapes, and liked to observe closely the changing skies and patterns of light."

After Server and a friend road-tripped to Estes Park one summer, he decided to attend college in Colorado, and enrolled at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. Unsure of a major and running out of money, Server left college after one year and began working at a nearby restaurant. During his ten years there he met Dawn, a UNC student and part-time cocktail waitress who had grown up in Niwot. They were married a few years later.

Server decided to resume his education, first at a community college, then back at UNC. His passions were photography, videography and especially darkroom photo lab film developing. He graduated with a major in journalism and a minor in business, then received a job offer as a videographer for KRDO-TV in Colorado Springs.

As a recent college graduate in a competitive field, being able to combine videography and journalism in this way was a very welcome opportunity. Server had many enjoyable assignments covering the United States Air Force Academy football games. A highlight was attending Air Force/Army games at West Point. He also covered the Broncos during the John Elway era.

Server's experience as a videographer with KRDO-TV's crime unit was very different. In addition to working full-time in the office every day, he and a reporter colleague were on call overnight. They listened to police calls and jumped into action to report on violent crimes, traffic accidents and fires. Server said that occasionally during those long nights, "I was sound asleep and the reporter had to run over to rap on my window."

A couple of years after Jeff and Dawn Server married, the first of their two daughters was born. His exhausting work hours and their need for additional income propelled him to take evening accounting classes and prepare for a career change.

Server worked in accounting for Western Gas, later acquired by Anadarko Petroleum, for 25 years. He was a gas plant accountant and at the end of his career, implemented a new planning system, which he described as "good assignments for a detail-oriented person."

Several years ago the Servers became interested in running a hop and lavender farm. They wanted to return to Niwot where Dawn was raised and they eventually learned of a suitable property that was for sale. When they toured a hop farm in Palisade, Colorado, they concluded that the equipment would be prohibitively expensive.

They decided to purchase the property in Niwot. The owners offered to sell them the bees from their beekeeping operation. Server said, "Dawn was immediately enthusiastic about the idea. I said 'no,' then 'yes.'" They now sell honey and lavender at their Meadow Lake Farm and at Niwot's community events.

Over the years as Server's passion for photography grew, he inspired daughters Molly and Katie to take up photography. Both had cameras and were enthusiastic nature photographers. Server said, "I would take hundreds of pics on a trip - they would take thousands. It would drive Dawn crazy because she just wanted to be walking."

Server has entered the Winot Niwot? Juried Art Show and won the Grand Prize for his shot of the Left Hand Ditch Company building last year and the People's Choice Award in 2022. He also won the Best in Category for Nature-Created/Color at the Louisville National Photography Show in 2023.

"Server" is an appropriate surname for a person who is a very dedicated behind-the-scenes volunteer in Niwot. He can be spotted at Veteran's Day celebrations taking photos of those who sponsored banners of loved ones. He serves at the July 4th pancake breakfast, and he is always on the lookout for ways to help contribute to the success of events.