INDIAN SPRINGS – Don’t worry; calling the town quaint in front of Mayor Steve Zerkis won’t cause a fuss.

“We don’t see much growth. In fact, we are trying to maintain that rural suburban feel,” Zerkis said. “The residents of the town at that time [late 1980s] felt threatened by increasing development around them and wanted to maintain this oasis.”

Indian Springs Village will commemorate 17 years of incorporation Sunday, Oct. 21 with food, entertainment and displays of old-fashioned farming equipment and antique vehicles.

“We hope to show the kids a taste of what life in the valley might have been like many years ago,” Zerkis said.

The village was incorporated on Oct. 16, 1990, after both Pelham and Hoover opened up the possibility of annexation. According to a history written by Ruth Goodwyn, Pelham aggressively sought the area but many residents resisted. A total of 911 people signed a petition to allow residents to vote on incorporating as Indian Springs Village. The city now includes about 2,400 residents and just a handful of small businesses.

“The town was created not so much as a revenue base as it was as a protective measure for residents who didn’t want to see their area taken over by development,” Zerkis said.

The city’s goals today haven’t altered much from its original purposes. Officials say they still try and protect the quality of life their citizens enjoy, the beauty and serenity of the area, the integrity of the community from commercialization and the self-determination of the town.

Some commercialization has found its way inside the village borders, but it,s limited.

The Founder’s Day celebration will begin at 2 p.m. at the park behind city hall.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly reported

when Indian Springs Village would celebrate Founders’ Day