A Florida sewing shop owner broke down in tears on live television Wednesday morning as she described the U.S. Navy's decision to scrap her contract in favor of another company they'll pay double her rate.
Candy Whitehurst spoke to CNN about the U.S. Navy's termination of her nearly 50-year-long relationship with the Blue Angels in May and a subsequent new $1.69 million contract with another company in another state.
Whitehurst told CNN no one ever told her why.
"I have text messages where the guys were saying, 'Oh, this is the best suit I ever had,' right before I found out," she said. "I can just show you and tell you stories where they was just in here praising me, so why they took this initiative? I do not know. But I just wish they would have had a conversation with me beforehand."
Whitehurst appeared on CNN alongside her husband, who tried to explain the importance of their relationship with the Blue Angels and how much they meant to their community.
"When you say Blue Angels, you think excitement, you think joy, they bring joy to the city," Ronnie Whitehurst said. "They bring joy to kids' hearts. Even my wife, I think sometimes she loves the Blues more than she loves me with the amount of hours that she spent here getting this blue uniform perfect."
Federal records show the Sewing Box received $683,653 through 14 contract awards between 2014 and 2025, but CNN's Sarah Sidner could tell the couple's work meant even more than that to them.
"Yeah, I know it's hard, and I see the tears forming in your eyes," Sidner said. "I'm so sorry, Miss Whitehurst, that this is so painful for you and your employees and your husband and all the work you've done for half a century."
Aquila International, based in Virginia, was granted a five-year contract with a maximum value of more than $1.6 million – nearly 2.5 times more than the Sewing Box's federal awards – but that's a maximum ceiling and not money already spent.
Company owner Todd Kelsey told WEAR-TV that he used his government connections to win the contact.
"I will say that, you know, I'm just a regular person at the end of the day," Kelsey said. "I'm proud of the fact that 10 years ago we founded Aquila. I just think that the work that we do speaks for ourselves. There wasn't anybody who helped us along the way."
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