Things to Do in Raymore

The Overland Park Convention Center kicks off summer with the Just for Her Event, where can women shop, expand their knowledge on topics such as health and wellness, and peruse more than 200 exhibitors. Booths showcase the latest in summer fashions from local boutiques, as well as luxurious spa services at area oases. Some lucky attendees will win daily raffle prizes and shopping sprees, which are much nicer rewards than the typical shopper’s prize: a free paper bag.

Tickets For Less is an easy-to-navigate, secure site that rescues consumers from perilous hidden fees and charges on tickets to concerts, plays, and professional and collegiate sporting events. By bypassing the price inflation that stems from traditional ticket vendors wining and dining their tickets before selling them on the open market, Tickets For Less is able to serve discounted paper permits. Upcoming events include a Lady Gaga concert, a performance of Cirque Du Soleil, and kinetic day at the NASCAR track, which at one point probably hosted a reunion concert for The Verve Pipe.

There is plenty to see, hear, and smell inside Ceramics & Coffee House @ Paint, Glaze & Fire. Here you’ll see rows of clay-colored mugs, vases, plates, pictures frames, and figurines next to bits of colored glass for fusion projects. Overhead a mosaic of tiles painted by customers creates a colorful ceiling, and up front an espresso bar grinds PT's coffee beans and steams milk for lattes.

Debbie, a Paint, Glaze & Fire co-owner, especially likes seeing dads painting pottery with their kids. Debbie says that while a father and his children might not talk too much while painting, they're still communicating and sharing a lot more than if they were silently sitting in a movie theatre. Plus, after painting, glass fusing, or canvas painting this family will have a something to show for it.

While fun for the whole family, Ceramics & Coffee House @ Paint, Glaze & Fire focuses on cultivating the creativity and curiosity of children. Kids' parties and summer camps actively engage youngsters, as do the bimonthly Paint Me a Story sessions, where a favorite children's book is paired with a pottery painting activity. With space to house 30 to 40 adult-size imaginations, the studio can also host corporate team-building events, girls' nights out, and other celebrations.

Now in its 51st year, Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church's festival once more celebrates the rich history and culture of Greece with live dance, traditional food, and Hellenistic arts and crafts. Visitors can watch displays of traditional dancing as troupes of costumed performers whirl and leap to folk tunes. Open-mouthed onlookers can snack on souvlaki, gyros, and baked pastitsio or shout out traditional Greek exclamations such as "Opa!", "Yassou!", and "Don't drop that Olympic torch!"

Church tours introduce festivalgoers to the stunning gilded iconography of Annunciation's sanctuary, and also give them a brief lesson on the symbolism, teaching, and history of the Greek Orthodox Church. Outside, kids get their faces painted, play games, and bounce inside a moonwalk, while adults stroll through the gift shop area, which attempts to tempt them with colorful wares imported from Greece, including fisherman's hats, gold jewelry, and worry beads.

The professional pilots at Timberview Helicopters ferry passengers high into the clouds aboard a sky-scraping whirlybird during flight tours through Destin, Kansas City, and Key West. Having chartered flights for National Geographic and the Travel Channel, these pilots expertly navigate planes toward sweeping, picturesque views, allowing sightseers to steal glances of Fort Walton Beach, downtown Kansas City, and Key West's ocean views from a perspective normally reserved for birds and astronauts with binoculars. Additionally, their high-definition videos grant guests a lasting commemoration of their in-flight experience. When they're not chartering tours, they teach budding pilots the gravity-defying tricks of their trade through pilot training and lug precious shipments from port to port with their cargo-lifting services.

Fine Arts Theatres’ four venues surround moviegoers with classic silver-screen ambiance as they present the latest independent and mainstream film offerings. Lovingly refurbished neighborhood movie palaces such as the early-20th-century Rio Theatre now boast surround-sound digital audio, high-backed rocker seats with arm-mounted cup holders, and movie trailers acted out by gregarious ticket takers. In addition to flicks opening each week, Fine Arts Theatres hosts screenings for the annual Kansas International Film Festival, voted the Best Local Film Festival by readers of The Pitch in 2011. The group also holds a Jewish Film Festival each spring and a Latin American Film Festival every September.