ShawneeDispatch.com

Nightlife

• Danny's Bar and Grill, 13350 College Blvd., Overland Park (345-9717). Karaoke DJ on Wednesday and Friday. Live bands on Saturday.
• The Ribbon Room, 11211 W. 58th St., Shawnee (631-1131). Karaoke, Thursdays and Sundays. Live music jam session on Fridays.
• Tony's Bar and Grill, 8620 Quivira, Lenexa (599-6611). Abel Ramirez Big Band, featuring Frank Ancona, playing arrangements of Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Duke Ellington and Artie Shaw for listening and dancing from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. every Tuesday. Texas Hold Em' 7 p.m. Monday and Wednesdays, karaoke 9:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Thursdays and Saturdays.
• Foobar's, 6505 Nieman Rd., Shawnee (268-5353). Open jam Friday nights, hosted by Questionable Covers, begins 9 p.m.

Entertainment

Country Club Cafe

21911 W. 66th St. 441-2444

• Lunchtime live music: Hermann Steenkamp, acoustic guitar, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Fridays.

Mountain Music Shoppe

12710 Shawnee Mission Pkwy. 962-9711

• Native American Flute Circle. 6:30-8:30 p.m. the third Monday of every month. Free.
• Acoustic instrument open jam session. 1-5 p.m. the second Saturday of every month. Free, but bring your own instrument.

Museums/libraries

Johnson County Library Shawnee Branch

13811 Johnson Dr. 962-3800

• Homework Help, 4-6 p.m. A Homework Coach will be here Mondays and Wednesdays to help with questions and assignments. Homework Help will close for winter break, Dec. 15 -- Jan. 8.
• Spanish Chat, noon Saturday. ¿Quiere Ud. practicar el español? Would you like to practice speaking Spanish? Join us the first Saturday of each month beginning for an informal chat. Bring your lunch and come ready to talk. No registration required.
• Baby Time Storytimes, 10:30 -- 11 a.m. Mondays Jan. 8, 22 and 29. Lap babies, crawlers and walkers (babies 6-18 months) and parents are welcome to join in finger plays, songs and rhymes. Attend for just one or all seven sessions; no registration required.
• Financial Workshop for Individual Investors, 7 p.m. Wednesdays Jan. 10-31. Learn about the power of investing in this four-week educational workshop, which will focus of participants and their goals, whether they are saving for their children's education or planning their retirement. Registration begins Dec. 27.
• Toddler Time, 10:30 a.m. Thursdays Jan. 11-25. Join us for stories, finger plays, songs and rhymes while tots learn to enhance their language skills. Registration begins Dec. 28.
• Second Saturday Book Club, 10-11:30 a.m. Jan. 13. An eclectic selection of enticing, enlightening reads. The book for January is "My Life in France" by Julia Child. Registration requested.
• Winning Reads Discussion Group, 7 p.m. Jan. 22. Discuss award-winning books. The book for January is "Resurrection Men" by Ian Rankin. Registration requested.
• Baby Sign, 7 p.m. Jan. 23 and 30. Ginny Chapman will offer two parenting sessions to allow moms and dads to learn basic sign vocabulary and develop a teaching technique. Resources on the benefits of using sign with preschool children will be included. Registration begins Jan. 9.
• Every Child Ready to Read, 10:30 a.m. Jan. 24-Feb.7. Learn to teach children early literacy and reading foundation skills in three easy 30-minute sessions. Sessions for parent will be held simultaneously with a preschooler storytime in the playroom. Registration begins Jan. 10.

Wonderscope Children's Museum

5705 Flint St. 268-8130; 268-4176 for enrollment.

• Funky Mama, 9:30 -- 10:15 a.m. today and Jan. 17 and 31. Come enjoy Funky Mama's special songs and singing games. Cost $2 per child.
• Gymboree at Wonderscope, 9:30 -- 10:15 a.m. Friday and Jan. 19. Bubbles, parachute play and songs for young children with an adult. Cost $2 per child.
• Yoga For Kids, 3:45-4:30 p.m. Mondays. Enroll for four-week sessions of yoga, art and fun for children 4- to 9-years-old. A new session begins each month and costs $28 per child.
• Terrific Tuesday Art, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Tuesdays. Dress for mess.
• Priscilla Howe, Storyteller Extraordinaire, 9:30 a.m. Jan. 9 and 23. Priscilla joins the museum the second and fourth Tuesday of each month to tell her favorite stories with the help of her hand puppets. Cost $1 per child.
• The Music in You, 9:30 -- 10:15 a.m. Jan. 12 and 26. Sandy Jackson, music therapist, shares music for the kid in all of us. Coast $2 per child.
• First "If School's Out, We're Open" of 2007, all day Jan. 15. Lots of kids are out of school for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, so come to Wonderscope. The Lawrence Arts Center's 940 Dancers will perform at 10:15 and 11:30 a.m.
• Integrated Arts Workshops, 1-3:30 p.m. Jan. 15, 22 and 29. Enroll 3- to 6-year-olds in these workshops to help develop their inherent creativity and love for learning.

Shawnee Town

11501 W. 57th St. 248-2360

• The Shawnee Town Museum is now closed to public tours. Tours will open to the public 10 a.m. -- 4:30 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday in March.

Johnson County

Museum of History

6305 Lackman Rd. 631-6709

• The 1950s All-Electric House, open 1-4 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday. Step inside this 1954 "house of the future," a completely restored KCP&L show home. Cost is $2 for adults and $1 for children ages 12 and younger. Guided tours only.
• Made in Johnson County, 10-4:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays and 1-4:30 p.m. Sundays Jan. 20-Aug. 12. This exhibit highlights Johnson County's entrepreneurial spirit, present products made in the county and highlighting the inventors who created them.

Lanesfield School Historic Site

187th and Dillie Rd., Edgerton

(913) 893-6645.

• School open 1-5 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday. Practice penmanship, cipher math problems on a slate or participate in an old-fashioned spelling bee with a costumed school teacher at Lanesfield School. Built in 1869, the school is the only building remaining from the town of Lanesfield, a former Santa Fe Trail mail stop. Free admission.