Saturday 15th July, HESCO Bastion proudly presented the 2006 HESCO Photo Competition winner, Specialist Lauren Agnoni, with her Harley-Davidson Fatboy® in Mansfield Pennsylvania, USA.

Specialist Agnoni, from Liberty Pennsylvania, joined the Army National Guard in 2001 and recently returned from an 11-month, 13-day deployment to Iraq. On Saturday 15th July she was back in fatigues at Cox's Harley-Davidson in Mansfield Pennsylvania accepting a set of keys to a 2006 Harley-Davidson Fatboy® from Jonathan Bird Marketing Manager at HESCO Bastion.

Agnoni, whose job in Iraq was assistant to the Brigade Safety Officer, was overwhelmed at being the 2006 winner, “This has been the most amazing home coming”, said Agnoni, “I saw the ad for the HESCO photo competition in Stars and Stripes. I had recently taken some photos of Specialist SPC Samantha Kerschneron duty and submitted five of my best shots. I never thought I would actually win the competition. This is just too cool! Thank-you HESCO!”
HESCO Bastion received over 2,000 photos from 900 contestants for this the second year of the competition. Specialist Agnoni's was chosen as the overall winner. The competition judges were looking for “inspirational and creative” pictures of the concertainer units “deployed in military or defense environments.”

Agnoni's picture, which shows her friend, Specialist Samantha Kerschner, from Genesee, with a rifle, poised beside a concertainer, captured exactly what the judges were looking for; an excellent quality image, interesting composition and sound construction.

HESCO researched Harley dealers in the States to find a dealer near Agnoni's home town in Liberty, then made the call to Cox's Northern Tier in Mansfield who supplied the Fatboy® plus all the protective riding gear that Agnoni needed to see her cruising off into the sunset.  “We are extremely proud that Specialist Agnoni has won the competition. With so many of our local residents being deployed to Iraq it’s been a fantastic boost for our community and a great homecoming for Specialist Agnoni” commented Kelly Chase, Marketing Manager at Cox’s.

Agnoni confesses she knows how to ride a dirt bike, but the Fatboy®  is another story. However, family friend Jack Judlin, who presently works at Cox’s said he will teach her to ride the Fatboy®. She and Kerschner are taking a trip out west in the summer, and then she has a semester of college to finish to get her degree in criminal justice. She doesn't think she will be redeployed and her enlistment in the National Guard is up in October 2007.

We wish Specialist Agnoni all the best and hopefully the start of many new exciting Fatboy® adventures.

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