Yes, the title of this page reveals what this year's gift shaped up to be...as introduced to Michael via the usual accompanying book...

...the cover of which states, "Birthdays are a bridge from one year to the next, the past to the future, yesterday's dreams and goals realized -- and tomorrow's waiting up ahead to be fulfilled."

In order to put this together, however, a bit of help was needed from my trusty friend, ebay -- mainly this Amish-made bird feeder in the form of a covered bridge...

...which, can you believe, included on/off ramps of the exact size of a CD cover!!! (which significance will be explained a bit further down this page)...

It also featured a removable lid, which simply lifts off by pulling two pins from the ends just under the roofline...

I then ran across a genuine Michael McDermott 45 RPM record ...

...and a custom music box maker who pointed me in the direction of a 20 second recordable module...

These items, along with the additional purchase of a bit of red felt board provided pretty much everything needed to get started with "bridge building".    The felt was used to line the bird feeder, thereby giving it the look of a real music box...

....and the record was modified to convert its stated recording of "Bells" to the more appropriate "Bridges" (although, of course, even "Bells" contains the relevant line "I will cross this bridge prepared to fight) and its notation "For JUKE boxes only"  was changed to "For MUSIC boxes only".  It was then "fitted" with the felt covered recording module (now containing 20 seconds of the song "Bridges") so that only the white push-to-play button in the center remained exposed...

...and the result was permanently installed on one side of the (now indeed "real") music box...

The other side of the box was filled with a CD containing The Birthday Bridge Slide Show (which also plays the song "Bridges" in its entirety [Note: a special thanks to Dave Emmerson for contributing photos from Michael's 2005 England trip])...

 (to view a short sampling of the disc's images/captions, you can click here.)

With the lid replaced, you can see the outside of this "covered" bridge is indeed covered (on all sides) -- in McD lyrics -- sent in by participants who took them from Michael's myspace songs of the past year...

What's more you'll notice the aforementioned ramps provided just enough space to include CD covers from Michael's last official release, Ashes...

...and his upcoming one, Noise From Words...

...the cover I created for which you'll see contains a parenthetical disclaimer -- hey,  given Michael's prolific songwriting rate, you just never know!

Finally, the cards, greetings and well wishes sent by participants were bundled up and placed under the bridge...

...along with the completed Birthday Bridge Book mentioned at the top of this page.  In addition to the cover you've already seen, this contained a brief note regarding how the event was made known...

the web page describing its requirements to participants, a list of "Bridge Building Assistants" (only page one of which is shown below)...

...and two final pages -- the first explaining the meaning and significance of this gift...

...the last conveying the wish of all its participants...

And, there you have it -- the surprise of the 5th Annual McDermott Birthday Celebration revealed. 

 Thanks again to everyone who took part!!!  

'Til next time...

                                                                                                                            Mil