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"Clean, pure like steel," said Kurt Drossel, member of the House Committee. "Like when you have a good knife or something - a good piece of steel - you hit it on the counter and it's almost like a tuning fork. that's the way it's supposed to be. When you sing, sing good."
The German word "lieder" means "song," and the German word "kranz" means "circle." Put them together, and you have a social German club on North Mountain Road.
The club's membership is waning, however, according Drossel.
"We used to be open every Friday," Drossel said. "But since the membership topped off a little bit, especially during the summer months, we only open on the first and second Friday of the month, and then there is a dance night. We had the last two Fridays open, but this weekend we have a dance, so we open on Saturday."
"People go on vacation, don't want to leave their air-conditioned house and so on," he added.
Drossel said the average age of club members is about 70-years-old.
"That's [another] one of the reasons the membership declines," he said. "One of the people asks me the question, 'Where are all the members?' I can tell you exactly where they are - the cemetery."
Sitting around, having a few drinks and playing cards seems to be in the norm on those Friday nights, but the monthly events, which draw about an average of 75 to 80 people, according to Drossel, tend to shake things up a bit.
In July, the club held a Hawaiian night, which Drossel said was done for "variety." Drossel said the club holds another event called the Bauernball, which is a mock wedding.
"We pick a bride and groom and then some followers, and we march along the hall and then they have some fun," Drossel said.
Drossel said the traditional German wedding is different from a typical American wedding. In Germany, the wedding party walks to the church, and then walks from the church to the house or restaurant for the reception.
"The way we handle it here is like a traditional wedding in Germany," he said. "We don't have Cadillacs and so on to go to the church. [Weddings are] too commercialized nowadays. If a wedding doesn't cost $10,000, it's a disappointment."
Drossel said the club will also be celebrating German-American Day, which is on Oct. 3, though the celebration will take place at the Aqua Turf Club in Southington. The club also recognizes Oktoberfest, and while the Munich celebration lasts for three weeks, Drossel said at Liederkranz, it is "just another dance."
Just up the street from Liederkranz is another German club, Hartford Saengerbund (singers' club), which celebrates an annual Beerfest.
"We have a tradition where we have costumes," said Drossel, who is a member at Sängerbund as well. "We carry a big beer barrel in, but it's empty, then the women have the traditional dresses. Everybody who has them dresses up; we have a good time."
Drossel said the vice president is in charge of entertainment and hires bands as well as decorates the hall for events. He said the president runs the club meetings which are held every second Friday of the month.
"[We talk about] how much money we can't spend because we don't have it," he joked.
Drossel said the main difference between Liederkranz and Saengerbund is at Liederkranz, people drink and play cards. At Saengerbund, they sing. He said several people have dual membership to both clubs.
Drossel, 75, said he joined the club in 1976, after emigrating from Germany to the United States in 1957. He said he was vice president for six years and then president for three years.
"The reason why it took me so long to join is because I raised five kids," he said with a laugh.
Drossel said the club doesn't do any sort of regular advertising, and that people just come on their own to be members. He said the club also doesn't do any type of fund raisers and relies on membership fees.
In addition to fewer members, however, Drossel said the members that do come don't even seem to drink that much anymore because nobody wants to get caught by the police.
"We got one guy, he used to put the beer away pretty good and he got caught," Drossel said, explaining that a cop car had followed the man home because he was driving "erratically."
Drossel also said that because of the liquor license that the club has, it can't be rented out to outsiders, only to members.
Even though the club celebrates German culture and tradition, one does not have to be of German descent in order to join. In fact, according to Drossel, several of the club's current members are non-German. Membership, which runs from October to October, costs $75 for a single person, and only $40 if you're a couple. The fee is annual.
