At T.B. Hanna Station, Raymore's Holiday Season Has Deadlines Before It Has Lights

Raymore's biggest holiday night is Friday, December 4, when the Mayor's Tree Lighting fills T.B. Hanna Station from 6 to 8 p.m. Most of what people will see there that night gets decided weeks earlier. Local businesses, organizations, families and individuals decorate the trees that line the Raymore Christmas Tree Trail, and the form to claim one is due Monday, November 16, at 5 p.m. The Veterans Day Salute works the same way. Its Honor Wall is made from veterans' bios that people send in, and those are due November 2.

If you take part in the season instead of just showing up for it, your planning happens in November. Here is how the dates line up, starting with the ones that close first.

The calendar, sorted by what needs action

If you're reading this the week it posts, the Honor Wall deadline is only a few days away. One detail can cause confusion. An earlier event listing gave a mid-October deadline for the veterans' forms, but the City of Raymore's October 16 weekly report lists November 2. The weekly report is the more recent city document.

November at Centerview: the season starts with people, not decorations

Raymore's holiday stretch begins on Veterans Day. The Veterans Day Salute at Centerview, 227 N. Municipal Circle, is a free city event with lunch, entertainment and a display of veterans' photos and bios, according to the Martin City Telegraph's event listing. The same listing describes Honor Bricks, which are engraved bricks recognizing military service. They're free to veterans who submit a form, and the Raymore Community Foundation accepts donations toward them.

Centerview hosts another November event that asks people to bring something. Pies for Pints on November 17 is a blood drive run with the Community Blood Center, and each donor goes home with a pumpkin pie. The city describes Centerview as a flexible indoor and outdoor venue with a catering kitchen and patio, sized for conferences of 300 or more.

The November 7 e-waste event is a practical one to put on the calendar before the holidays. The city is partnering with TechRemove at Raymore City Hall from 9 a.m. to noon. There's no limit on how many electronics one person can bring, and you don't have to live in Raymore to take part. Some items carry a fee and some aren't accepted, so check the city's item list before you load the car. The same October report says the City Hall parking lot is now fully open, which helps on a morning when people are unloading old TVs and printers.

The Holiday Craft Fair on Saturday, November 14, brings more than 80 local vendors selling holiday gifts to the Raymore Activity Center at 1011 S. Madison St. Two weeks later, on Saturday, November 28, the city's Small Business Saturday page links an interactive map of Raymore's food, dining and retail businesses for anyone who wants to keep their holiday shopping local.

The Tree Trail is decorated by the people who sign up for it

On December 4, the season moves to T.B. Hanna Station at 214 S. Washington St. The city describes it as a three-acre park in Raymore's Original Town area, with an outdoor stage that serves as "home to the Mayor's Tree and the annual Raymore Christmas Tree Trail during the holidays."

The 2026 listing invites businesses, organizations, families and individuals to decorate a tree that stays on display at the park through the holiday season. That makes November 16 the real start of the holidays for anyone who wants a tree. Here's what the lighting night includes, per the event listing:

1. Pictures with Santa
2. The Raymore Christmas Tree Trail
3. The lighting of the Mayor's tree

The 2026 lighting falls on a Friday, as last year's did. The city's Fall 2025 program guide listed the 2025 lighting for Friday, December 5. Neither the craft fair listing nor the tree lighting listing mentions an admission price.

The park's layout comes from its history. The 2019 to 2021 renovation was designed with Cook, Flatt & Strobel Engineers to keep the character of Original Town and the former train depot. The Variety KC Inclusive Sprayground is built around a custom train that nods to the abandoned railroad tracks that once ran through town. Variety KC also gave a $135,000 grant to make the playground and sprayground fully accessible. Funding for the larger renovation came from a 2016 voter-approved no-tax-increase general obligation bond plus the city's Park Fund and General Fund.

The Rink depends on Missouri weather

The same pavilion has a winter job. The Depot is a covered pavilion in spring, summer and fall, and each winter it becomes The Rink, a custom-designed ice rink built to fit inside the shelter. When the rink isn't in use, it's stored in the Station House, a restored building that served as Raymore's post office from the 1950s through the 1980s and now looks like the original depot.

Last season showed how much the rink depends on the weather. The city's skating page reports that The Rink closed for the season on February 17, 2026, because temperatures were unusually warm. A Missouri statewide roundup published in November 2025 listed the rink as open December through January, so last season actually ran past that window before the warm spell ended it.

The city hasn't announced dates, hours or prices for the 2026 to 2027 season yet. For a sense of how a typical week works, here's what the Fall 2025 program guide listed for last season.

• Weekends: Saturdays and Sundays, 1 to 7 p.m.
• Mondays: Closed for maintenance.
• Tuesdays through Thursdays: Open skate with no skate shop, free if you bring your own skates.
• Skate rental: $5 per person, cash only.
• Private rentals: $200 for two hours, including up to 20 pairs of skates, with extra pairs at $5 each, plus fire pits and heaters. Offered weekends, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m.

The guide also noted that all rink hours and private rentals depend on the weather. Keep that in mind if you're planning a birthday or team party on the ice. The city's skate page is where closure notices were posted last season, so check it before you go.

The park is about to get bigger

The trees, the lighting, the rink and the summer sprayground all share three acres, and the city is working to add more room. On October 20, 2026, Raymore's Planning and Zoning Commission recommended that the City Council approve Case 26020. That case rezones land on the west side of Adams Street, next to T.B. Hanna Station, from "R-1" to "PR" for park use. You can watch the full meeting on the city's YouTube channel.

The commission's vote was a recommendation, not the final word. The rezoning still has to go before the City Council, and it doesn't approve a site plan. The layout of the expanded park will be reviewed separately. Commissioners also noted that closing the street next to the expansion would need its own application and review. The city's FY26 capital plan lists Phase 1 of the T.B. Hanna Station Expansion at $164,000, including $82,500 in FY26 for design and bidding for Phase 2, removing the house at 204 S. Adams and work on hazardous trees. That plan dates from November 2025, so later decisions may change its schedule.

At the same meeting, the commission recommended rezoning Parkside Park, at N. Madison Street and 163rd Street, for a future public dog park. That rezoning will also need its own site-plan review.

This year's Tree Trail will be set up on the same three acres as in years past. The difference is that the land next to it now has a commission recommendation for park use, and the City Council will decide what happens next.

December's last two dates

After the lighting, the city calendar lists the Sounds of South Kansas City Community Band Holiday Concert on Thursday, December 10, at 7 p.m. and Stuff n' Fluff on Friday, December 11, at 6 p.m. In 2025, Stuff n' Fluff was a $25 activity for kids ages 2 to 12. Each child made a stuffed penguin, moose or polar bear and had snacks and refreshments. The city hasn't posted the 2026 details for either event yet, so watch the city calendar as December gets closer.

If you're decorating a tree for your business this year, or you'd like to live within walking distance of Original Town by next December, Sherry Lynn & Co knows Raymore's neighborhoods and would be glad to help you plan. Schedule a consultation, and we'll walk through the streets around T.B. Hanna Station with you.