Corny dog heiress a survivor helping others

By Shari Goldstein Stern

As of this writing, it is only 282 days, 16 hours, 52 minutes and 53 seconds until the opening of the 2020 State Fair of Texas. Make that 51 minutes. 

In pondering how many of the three million visitors to the Fair each year have “Fletcher’s” on their mind for the first stop on their deep-fried adventure, the obsession begins. But Amber Fletcher will tell you the product doesn’t really fit into the “deep fried” category. It’s a legend on its own accord. Since the death of her endeared father, Neil Skip Fletcher in 2017, Fletcher’s has never “skipped” a beat with Skip’s daughter, Amber, and family at the helm.

Depending on how many Fairs you’ve made it to in your lifetime, you may have gotten to know the interesting Fletcher family. There was Papa Neil Fletcher, who, along with his brother Carl, invented the corn dog and presented it at the Fair in 1942. The two gentlemen had been vaudevillians with their own show at the Fair in 1938 when Fair officials invited them to open a food concession.

Papa Neil Fletcher, Sr. passed away when Amber was only a 1-year-old. According to her mom, Glenda Fletcher, Amber had her first Fletcher’s at seven months old. As early as elementary school the little girl recognized the importance of the “brand,” which she carried with her through life. Papa passed the business off to his sons Bill and Neil. The latter would become known as Skip, and “The Corny Dog King.”

Since Skip passed away in 2017, Fletcher’s company has been run by four majors in the family: Amber and Aaron, Skip’s kids; their cousin William, and Glenda Fletcher, Skip’s widow. 

At the age of 21, Amber survived a horrific experience, the memory of which is always with her. She was kidnapped by three men and held for ransom for 13 hours. The kidnappers blindfolded and handcuffed her from the onset of the hideous ordeal and drove her around in the floorboard of a car. They ordered her to make the ransom call in which they threatened to kill her family if they didn’t give them $100,000. 

The victim recognized the “mastermind’s” voice as that of a former neighbor. She tried to talk and bond with him, and to draw empathy from him and the other two kidnappers. As luck would have it and with ignorance on the kidnappers’ part, Amber placed the call on her own cell phone they had taken from her. The police and FBI were able to track the phone until they found her.

Official rules mandated keeping the young woman in handcuffs for hours at the at the police station as they sorted the facts. Once free to go home, she said she never wanted to leave the house again.

According to the entrepreneur, each of the family members has a unique skill they bring to the management mix, and they fit together like a puzzle.

Glenda Fletcher has decision-making duties, along with running the mechanics of the business. She manages details such as how much cornmeal to order, how many corny dogs should fry at what temperature in what quantity of oil, paying the bills, supervising the staff, and paying attention to the Fair’s standards and guidelines while carrying on the family tradition. 

Amber said that throughout her entire life her father talked to her and her brother Aaron about the value of their participation in the family business. He mentored, groomed, encouraged and gave them on-the-job training. “I think he would be proud of how our family has shifted into our roles in the company. We are carrying on his legacy in Texas with great pride, honor and respect,” Amber said. Many children, cousins and grandchildren work the concessions and catering throughout Texas keeping the tradition alive. 

Now at 32, along with helping manage the Fletcher’s company, largely in marketing, Amber speaks to seminars and workshops about branding and setting up a mobile business. 

The redhead has developed a second entrepreneurial career drawing on her capabilities in health education, public speaking and mentoring. She speaks to a select audience on the “Gift of Fear” — she talks about what’s going on in your head when an illegal act is perpetrated on you. She credits paying attention and trusting your instinct for survival. 

When she paid attention to the terror and helplessness she felt during her kidnapping, she was able to convince the perpetrators to feel sorry for her. 

Amber is also a health and wellness coach for women, particularly underserved women. 

Texas A&M recently invited her to give a presentation there. She’s written a children’s book, which she plans to publish soon.

“The Corny Dog Heiress” shares her home with a menagerie of other kinds of dogs. Amber recently lost one of her dogs, Vita Bella, but she remains a loving mom to Finnegan, and brother and sister, Jack and Sophia.

Now it’s 282 days, 16 hours, 12 minutes and 53 seconds until Big Tex invites everyone in to enjoy the 2020 State Fair of Texas, Sept. 25 – Oct. 18, and to stop by Fletcher’s and meet Amber and her family.

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