Instead of benefitting research into MS, it will benefit its founder's treatment for it.
The fifth Maxine Moore and Friends concert for MS has been set for the afternoon of October 16 at Westminster United Church.
And it will be the last one, Moore informed the Journal.
"When I started, I wanted to do five benefit concerts," she smiled, so this year's is it.
For the past four years, Moore's concerts have raised funds for the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society of Canada, mainly because of her tie to the MS - she was diagnosed with the disease in 1991.
This year, the concert is actually going to raise funds to send Moore to the United States for the Liberation Treatment for MS.
She was chatting with two of her friends, who are also performing in this show, and they encouraged her to do the concert as a benefit for herself, to help fund the expensive surgery she has to pay for herself in California.
"It was very moving and touching to have people come on board and say 'this is for you'," Moore said.
Moore will be going to Costa Mesa, which is south of Los Angeles, this winter to seek a form of the Liberation Treatment, which involves widening veins travelling into the brain to increase bloodflow.
The treatment Moore is seeking will also address the valves, she said, instead of just expanding the veins.
"It's supposed to be a more long-lasting treatment," she said.
Moore has yet to try any form of the Liberation Treatment. Though diagnosed in 1991, it was not until the past couple of years that she began to have trouble walking without a limp, and the fatigue associated with the disease got more pronounced.
"It's time to try it," she agreed.
It will cost Moore over $8,000 for the treatment, with an additional $2,500 for medical imaging beforehand.
This concert, in addition to a steak night fundraiser being put on by Johnny's Bistro on November 5, should help the Moores cover those costs.
Many of Moore's musical friends have turned out to help her with this last concert.
"The group keeps getting bigger," she smiled. "There's a good cross section."
Included in her friends this year are pianist Sharon Guina, vocalists Angela Yakimoski, Rita Frank, Bob Henderson, clarinetist Dale Avison, and new this year, singers Sharon Carter of Middle Lake and Robert Voldeng of Naicam.
The theme of this last concert is show tunes, which means Moore and all her friends will be performing numbers from well known musicals, most of which have been staged in the Humboldt area, and in which these singers have performed.
"It won't be all the songs from all the musicals we've done," Moore said. If that were the case, the concert would last all night, and her voice would give out, she laughed.
But they have chosen their favourite songs from musicals like "Fiddler on the Roof", "Music Man", "The Sound of Music", "Oliver", "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat", "The King and I" and others.
For instance, Rita Frank, one of Moore's friends, will reprise her role as Sister Amnesia from "Nunsense" for the concert.
"For those people who remember (musicals from) all those years back, it will bring back memories of the fun times we had putting on those shows," Moore promised.
Voldeng and Moore performed together in "The King and I", staged in Humboldt just a few years ago, and he agreed to come back and do a few numbers from that musical, including a duet with Moore.
"We had a great time doing 'The King and I'," Moore said.
Other songs will include "Til There Was You" from "The Music Man", and "I Dreamed a Dream" from "Les Miserables," just to name a couple.
While they will not have sets for this concert, they will have some costuming, Moore promised.
The rehearsals have been fun, Moore said, "so I can tell it's going to be a very good show."
Moore advised that those wishing to see the show come early to avoid delays at the door.
"Last year, they were lined up on the sidewalk," she said.
Getting there early will also allow people a chance to look at the items up for silent auction, as well.
Though this will be the last of the series of Maxine Moore and Friends concerts, Moore is already thinking about another type of concert for next year.
"I want to do 'The Sound of Music' in concert," she said. "The wheels started turning at practise (for this final Friends concert)," she added. Watching some of the numbers from the musical be performed in the concert setting, Moore said to herself, "This has got to be done."
That endeavour is currently in the planning process, and she is looking for people who wish to take part.
