DUDLEYTOWN — Kiley Sons didn’t have to look far to find an influence in starting with the Jackson County 4-H program.

They were right in her Dudleytown home.

Her mother, Jessica, showed dairy goats in 4-H. Now, she’s in her 25th year as a 4-H club leader.

Her older brother, Colin, showed goats, rabbits, pigs and cats during his career.

“That’s all I’ve ever known,” said Sons, who is now 18 and is wrapping up her 10th and final year in 4-H. “I didn’t feel like I was forced to do it. It was kind of just like, ‘Let’s go show some goats.’”

During her tenure with the organization, Sons has shown every livestock animal except horses and cows during the Jackson County Fair on the last week of July. Plus, she has completed a variety of nonanimal projects that are on display in the 4-H Building.

When the 2023 fair starts this weekend in Brownstown, Sons will be off and running with the cat show. Then next week, she will show one pig, two sheep and five dairy goats. She also will visit the 4-H Building to see how her vet science poster fared.

With all of her dedication to 4-H over the years, The Tribune asked Sons to write the Fair Diary during this year’s fair. Throughout the week, the 2023 Seymour High School graduate will share her experience on a daily basis with Tribune readers, giving them a glance at what all it takes to prepare projects for the fair and what all she gets to do.

Sons’ love of livestock began at age 3 when she got a boer goat and named her Princess. Later, she was able to show her goat when she joined Mini 4-H. Then at the beginning of 4-H in third grade, she added pigs, dairy goats and rabbits. By seventh grade, she added sheep.

“When you’re little, your mom just tells you to go out there and she’s like, ‘Just go do this and smile,’” Sons said. “Probably around eighth grade to freshman year, that’s when I really started to get comfortable and I’m like, ‘OK, I kind of understand this a little bit better.’”

If she had to pick a favorite animal, Sons quickly said sheep.

“This was her thing,” her mother, Jessica Rieckers, said. “She started sheep, this is what she wanted to do, this was hers and this has been her thing.”

Wanting to stand out, Sons got into Texels.

“No one has those, but they are so sweet. They are the sweetest sheep,” she said. “They are the best to work with, so when the quiet barn time comes around during the fair, I always take my sheep.”

She said she loves their personalities.

“I just feel like the Texels, my sheep, they are just more personable, and they have that kind of personality that you’re like, ‘Oh, these are some really nice sheep,’” she said. “They are not running away from you. They are coming up to you when you’re out there in the pen.”

Walking through the sheep barn, some breeds will run to the corner of their pens when they see someone coming toward them. Not Texels, Sons said.

“They will look at you and be like, ‘You got anything for me?’ and they’ll walk up to you and let you pet them, rub all over them,” she said. “They just don’t care. They just have that don’t care personality.”

So what’s the most challenging animal to show? Pigs, Sons said.

“They are crazy,” she said, smiling. “We go to show them at the fair, you let them out of the gate and they are the ones running and chasing. You could have walked them a million times. They are just the ones that are running around and having a blast. It’s just like, ‘Oh well, whatever. No need to stress about it.’”

Sons has shown goats all 10 years of 4-H and is a member of the Jackson County 4-H Club, formerly known as Mighty Meat Goats. Her mom is the co-leader with Jason Wynn.

Rieckers said her daughter being involved in livestock has helped her tremendously.

“I think it has been a good learning experience with her for the livestock and taking a lot of responsibility for that,” she said. “I can count on her to come out there and help with the livestock or get the job done. It’s a lot of hands-on.”

The work Sons puts in year-round shows when fair week rolls around. Her goal is to shine in the show arena.

“I definitely can tell that with my sheep and stuff, I’ve gotten more competitive,” Sons said. “I want everyone to do well, trust me, but then I want to go out there and I want to show the judge what I’ve done, how my animal looks the best, and I just want to be able to present that animal in the best way. It’s all up to me to make sure that animal is in the right spot, it’s set up correctly. You’re on go mode once you go in there. You’re just very focused.”

Looking at fair week, Sons will shear and wash her sheep, Ellie and Rory, on Monday to get them ready for showing Wednesday. On Tuesday, she will show a crossbred pig.

On Thursday, her LaMancha goats, Mary Anne, Raven, Rosalie, Cassandra and Safari, will be in the spotlight.

“They are always a showstopper at the fair,” Sons said. “People are always asking, ‘Did you eat their ears? Did you cut their ears off?’ ‘No. They are just born like that. Their ears are just really small.’ They are normally all very sweet because they are all bottle babies, so they’ve all been raised around us. They are normally pretty good. Sometimes, you’ve got the ones that are jumping around and having fun, but other than that, they are really good to show.”

On Friday, Sons plans to watch the supreme showman contests, and then Saturday, she will enter an animal in the livestock auction.

Outside of livestock, Sons’ 4-H Building projects over the years have included shooting sports, sewing, consumer clothing, child development, health and safety, pocket pets, cake decorating, ceramics, baking, vet science and photography, just to name a few.

“I just like walking through the 4-H Building and being like, ‘Oh, that would be cool to do. I want to try to do that.’ I always wanted to try to do something different,” she said.

“Maybe I wasn’t the best at it, but I still did it, I still had fun doing it. That’s all that matters with 4-H,” she said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re good at it or not. Just go out there and have fun. There’s something for everyone. It doesn’t have to be just animals. Maybe take your Legos or your cakes or whatever.”

When asked what she likes most about the Jackson County Fair, Sons said she loves the family aspect within each livestock barn.

“We mostly hang out in the goat barn, so we have our own little corner,” she said. “We can just sit there and people come up, they’ll talk to you, they’ll ask you for help, whatever, and there’s always someone there to help you no matter what. You don’t have to be afraid to ask because you know they are going to be willing to help you.”

She also likes the food and said the Chinese stand on the midway is her favorite, and she enjoys participating in quiet barn time that gives individuals with special needs their own time to get up close with animals.

Outside of 4-H, Sons was involved in a variety of organizations at SHS, including FFA, National Honor Society and Fellowship of Christian Students. She also was on the track and field and volleyball teams at SHS and played club volleyball.

While she didn’t show horses in 4-H, Sons has been around them for a long time and enjoys trail riding with her family.

Her longtime love of animals led to her decision to pursue a career as a veterinarian. She’s heading to Southern Illinois University to earn an undergraduate degree in animal science focusing on prevet, and she will go in as a sophomore thanks to dual-credit courses she took at SHS.

During her senior year, she spent the second half of her school days doing work-based learning at St. Clair Veterinary Clinic in Scottsburg. That real-world experience solidified her career choice.

“I just fell in love with it,” Sons said.

After earning her bachelor’s degree, she will have four years of graduate school to become a veterinarian.

“I’m in between coming back here or just seeing where the job take me,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to go out West and do stuff because I mostly want to focus on horses. Out West, there are tons of opportunities.”