Shoot. I'm going to cry.

What do you give to a talented documentarian for his college graduation?

Well, a hedgehog might be a good idea but he's still pretty transient and I'm not sure how well they travel cross-country. Maybe not the most practical.

Full armor from the Society for Creative Anachronism? Maybe not the most useful.

A horse diaper? A conversation starter, most definitely but bulky to transport.

A CanJoe*?

Perfect. When we called CanJoe* John we found that Andrew had already commissioned him to make a CanJoe*.

We asked CanJoe* to hold Andrew off and to instead add a number of personal items to make this a one-of-a-kind instrument. He was thrilled to oblige.  Here is a description of the finished product, in CanJoe*'s own words:

"This exquisite one-of-a-kind, custom electric one-stringed canjoe instrument was created exclusively for Andrew King It is of curly maple with a fine ebony finger board inlaid with very special items that represent him. The walnut box under the custom CanJoe*John can houses the electronics, co-created by Jack Bradshaw. From stem to stern, top to bottom, this exquisite instrument is symbolically detailed to match the character it now belongs, Andrew King."

"The head stock is inlaid with three diamonds above a gold crown. The diamonds represent the trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The crown reflects the name of its owner, Andrew King 2ho is also a most devout follower of Christ, as represented in the inlaid Christian cross."

"The star attached at the head is another trademark symbol of the CanJoe Company, and this angle gives a nice view of the diamonds, crown, cross, and director's clap board inlays. There are also three more diamonds imbedded at the 3rd, 7th, and 10th frets along the finger board as fret markers."

"Andrew King graduates on May 6, 2017 from Asbury University. The side plates and bottom of the electronics housing box is of fine walnut with the school logo attached and his name as shown here. The small button under the string and in front of the can is part of a super powerful, custom designed and created, hand wound, single magnetic pick up. At the tail is the jack for the pick up allowing the instrument to be fully electric. The can is a custom and very limited edition 'One String, One Can, One Man' 12 oz aluminum can created by Print On Can, Inc exclusively for CanJoe*John. Below the can is a hand signed signature in silver with a small crystal star imbedded as a part of the trademark of the creator. At the 3rd, 7th, and 10th fret positions are imbedded with a diamond under each fret as markers."

"Andrew King is a super fine fiddler, so inlaid in the center in the 5th fret space is a fiddle. He was a videographer at the 2016 olympics in Reo, so inlaid is the special ordered symbol, positioned at the instrument's harmonic fret, the 7th. The mother of pearl dot is at the 10th fret."

"The 3rd fret position has a director's clap board inlaid as Andrew King has produced and directed award winning documentaries, including the "CanJoe*Man" movie releasing to film festivals throughout the country in 2017."

And CanJoe* had one more request for us, and exact date and time to hand-deliver this precious package to its honored recipient.

"Andrew King directed and co-produced the CanJoe*Man movie documentary that recently premiered at the Highbridge Film Festival and soon to be released to many film festivals ths year. He graduates tomorrow evening. His dad & mom commissioned a fine, one-of-a-kind, custom canjoe instrument as a graduation gift. They hand delivered it to him and he opened it exactly 5:55 pm today, May 5th, 2017. My wife, Sissy, was born on this date, 5/5/55, on the 5th day of the week. Was 5'5" tall, and was buried on 5/5/95, her 40th birthday. Her ceremony began exactly at 5:55 pm on that date." ~ CJ*J

And in Andrew's own words:

"Shoot. I'm going to cry."

Thank you, CanJoe*!