Midland’s Oct. 9–11 weekend had a fire station open house, the library’s fall book sale and a night at the symphony

MIDLAND, Mich. — Firefighters, used books and a saxophone concerto topped the list in Midland the weekend of Oct. 9-11, with all three on the calendar between Friday and Sunday.

The Midland Fire Department held its Fire Prevention Week Open House from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday at Fire Station One, 816 E. Haley St., the city said. The schedule included a live fire demonstration, a rescue demonstration and a bouncy castle. Firefighters were on hand, along with area companies that help people recover after a fire or other emergency, and food trucks sold food.

The open house wrapped up Fire Prevention Week, which ran Oct. 4-10 and which the department promoted with the National Fire Protection Association.

The Friends of the Grace A. Dow Memorial Library held their fall book sale at the library, 1710 W. St. Andrews Road. Friends members got first pick from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Friday, and people could join or renew at the checkout desk or at the auditorium door that night. The sale was open to everyone from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, when a bag of books cost $5 and the bags were provided.

Adult paperbacks were $1 and adult hardcovers $2, according to the sale listing. Children’s paperbacks were 50 cents, children’s hardcovers $1, and music CDs and DVDs $1. Sets, rare books, magazines, kits and audiobooks could be priced differently. Cash, checks and credit cards were accepted.

Saturday at 7:30 p.m., the Midland Symphony Orchestra performed “Gallery of Sound” in the auditorium at the Midland Center for the Arts, 1801 W. St. Andrews Road. The h2 quartet joined the orchestra for Philip Glass’s Saxophone Quartet Concerto, and the program also included Alberto Ginastera’s “Estancia: Four Dances” and Modest Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.” Tickets started at $35 for adults and $6 for students.

Updated Oct. 12, 2026: These events took place Oct. 9-11. This guide was published before them, and its schedule language has been changed to the past tense.

Updated Oct. 13, 2026: The headline and summary were changed to the past tense for events that have already taken place.

Sources:
City of Midland calendar, “Fire Prevention Week Open House,” Oct. 10, 2026, accessed Oct. 8, 2026, https://www.cityofmidlandmi.gov/m/calendar/event/detail/7131
WCMU Public Media community calendar, “Friends of the Grace A Dow Library Fall Book Sale,” accessed Oct. 8, 2026, https://www.wcmu.org/community-calendar/event/friends-of-the-grace-a-dow-library-fall-book-sale-31-08-2026-11-18-37
Midland Center for the Arts, “Gallery of Sound,” Midland Symphony Orchestra, Oct. 10, 2026, accessed Oct. 8, 2026, https://www.midlandcenter.org/events/detail/mso-opening-night-gallery-of-sound
Photo: Rick Moreau, “Grace A Dow Library Sunset,” June 25, 2018, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), cropped and color-corrected; derivative under the same ShareAlike license, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grace_A_Dow_Library_Sunset.jpg

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