Sharon Hospital surgeon heads to world squash championships

Dr. Marty Clark, right, practices squash with training partner Sandeep Ramachandran in The Hotchkiss School’s athletic center.
        Copey Rollins
    

Dr. Marty Clark, right, practices squash with training partner Sandeep Ramachandran in The Hotchkiss School’s athletic center.
SHARON — On a warm Wednesday afternoon, Dr. Marty Clark, an orthopedic surgeon living in Sharon, moves thoughtfully and carefully as he hits a calculated forehand to win a rally. 
Clark was playing a friendly yet competitive squash match against his friend and training partner, Sandeep Ramachandran, a professional squash player from India, when he caught up with The Lakeville Journal. Clark is preparing for his biggest squash match in almost 30 years: World Masters Championships in Amsterdam, where he hopes to place first in his age group (50 and up). 
Clark has played squash since the age of nine. His mother was a squash player, and he fell in love with the sport early. 
“I was the top junior player in the United States,” he said. “And when I went to Harvard I was always one of the top inter collegiate squash players.” 
He got second place in the Intercollegiate Championships his senior year, and then, upon graduation, he decided to go pro. 
Clark’s first pro season started off slowly; playing on the professional tour had a learning curve. By his second season he had won the National Championship. Realizing his potential to really climb the ranks as a pro squash player, Clark chose to defer from medical school for a year to continue the tour. 
During medical school at Columbia, Clark continued to compete in many big tournaments like the Pan-American games and the USA National Championships — which he won three out of the four years he was in medical school. 
At age 28, Clark decided to hang up his racket and focus on being a doctor, a job that he sees as service. “I stopped playing squash when I was still very good at squash,” he said. “I have always said to myself I can get top 20 in the world or top 30 but I wanted to be a doctor and serve people in my community.” 
More than 20 years later Clark has a thriving practice at Sharon Hospital and four daughters, two of whom are very invested in squash. It was those girls, 14-year-old Pippa and 11-year-old Astrid, who inspired him to start training again. 
Clark said, “I train a lot with them and something just told me that I had some unfinished business left on the court.” 
Starting off his new squash career at the U.S. National Championships in Philadelphia this April, Clark realized that he was “tons slower,” so he has had to learn to “be much more strategic, tactical, and hit the ball into the front court in order to win rallies faster.” Nevertheless, he was able to place second after losing a tight final to an old colleague and competitor. 
To help him with his training, Clark is being coached by many people whose experience he values. Alexia Clonda, a squash coach at Vassar and once a World Junior Squash Champion herself has helped Clark with the mental side of the sport along with some strategy. Bobby Burns and Sandeep Ramachandran from The Hotchkiss School’s squash program have both helped train him. Along with this extremely qualified group, his two daughters Astrid and Pippa have “flipped the script” and helped give their father coaching advice just as he gives them. 
One of the driving forces behind his desire to compete in the world championship is Clark’s work as an orthopedic surgeon. Clark said that he often tells patients to try and be active, and he feels “more authentic now that I am doing more,” he said. He might tell patients, “I’m 52 and you are only 42, so I know you can do this. I know you can fight to be in shape and be a more healthy version of yourself.” 
In the months following the national championship, Clark geared up for Amsterdam by competing in two big tournaments: one in New York City and one in Columbia, Maryland. He realized that exhaustion has played a big role in the results of those tournaments. 
“It’s hard balancing four kids and operating on people, especially when I’m operating the night before a tournament.” 
The Masters World Championships are held in Amsterdam every two years, and the age groups are divided at five year intervals. Clark will be competing from Aug. 15 to 22 in the 50-and-up age group and he will be seeded somewhere between 17th and 32nd. 
For this tournament, his daughter Pippa will be taking on the coaching role. Clark is aiming to take home the trophy. “My goal is to win the tournament,” said Clark. “I wouldn’t have wanted to train without thinking that that was a possibility.”
WOODBURY — Nonnewaug High School claimed twin titles in the Berkshire League soccer tournament finals.
The school's girls and boys teams were named league champions after finishing the regular season with the best win/loss records. Winning the tournaments earned each team a plaque and added to the program's success in 2025.
Both of Nonnewaug's varsity teams faced off against their counterparts from Housatonic Valley Regional High School in the tournament finals in Woodbury Tuesday, Oct. 28.
The boys game was played first. Housatonic took a quick 2-0 lead with goals from Gustavo Portillo and Jackson McAvoy. Nonnewaug responded in the second half with three consecutive goals: first from Cash Medonis then two from Vincenzo Rose. The Nonnewaug boys won 3-2.
 
The girls game followed. Nonnewaug and Housatonic traded goals early on and the score was tied 2-2 at halftime. Nonnewaug scored twice more in the second half to win 4-2. Housatonic's goals were scored by Ava Segalla. Rosie Makarewicz scored twice for Nonnewaug and Hailey Goldman and Aubrey Doran scored once.
Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference soccer tournaments begin Oct. 31. Both Housatonic teams qualified for the Class S tournament and both Nonnewaug teams qualified for the Class M tournament.
TORRINGTON — Joan Jardine, 90, of Mill Lane, passed away at home on Oct. 23, 2025. She was the loving wife of David Jardine.
Joan was born Aug. 9, 1935, in Throop, Pennsylvania, daughter of the late Joseph and Vera (Ezepchick) Zigmont.
Joan graduated from Harding High School.
She was a working artist for much of her adult life, starting her career studying plein air impressionist oil painting at the Cape Cod School of Art. Her work evolved to include a more representational style, and eventually a large body of abstract pieces. Her award-winning work has been shown in galleries and juried art shows throughout southern New England.
She is survived by her daughter Leslie and her husband George, brothers Joseph, Victor, and their families, nephews Gregory, Christopher, and their families, daughter-in- law Huong, and the extended Jardine family. She was predeceased by her son Douglas, and brother Michael.
A memorial service will be held at All Saints of America Orthodox Church, 313 Twin Lakes Road, Salisbury, Connecticut on Thursday, Oct. 30, at 10 a.m. Memorial contributions may be made to the All Saints of America Orthodox Church, PO Box 45, Salisbury, CT 06068.
The Kenny Funeral Home has care of arrangements.
The ofrenda at Race Brook Lodge.
On Saturday, Nov. 1, the Race Brook Lodge in Sheffield will celebrate the Mexican Day of the Dead: El Día de los Muertos.
Mexican Day of the Dead takes place the first weekend of November and honors los difuntos (the deceased) with ofrendas (offerings) on an altar featuring photos of loved ones who have passed on. Elements of earth, wind, fire and water are represented with food, papel picada (colorful decorative paper), candles and tequila left for the beloved deceased. The departed are believed to travel from the spirit world and briefly join the living for a night of remembrance and revelry.
Music and events programmer Alex Harvey has been producing Día de los Muertos at Race Brook for the past three years, and with the closing of the venue looming, the festival takes on a deep and personal meaning.
“The anchoring gesture of Race Brook, long before I arrived on the scene, has always been to cultivate a space that thins the veil between the worlds. Something otherworldly is hiding in the mountain’s towering shadow: the whispering spring-fed stream, the dense lineage that founder Dave Rothstein brings, the woodsmoke that rises every night of the year from the firepits. This space communes with the spirits,” said Harvey.
“And so we cradle a special ache in our hearts as the leaves turn and the beautiful dance of Race Brook’s project of cultural pollination draws to a close. Fitting, then, to return for one last activation — Día de Los Muertos — a celebration of the end of things. A remembrance of those who’ve made the transition we are all destined for, but also a time when we honor many types of loss. And while we will all mourn those who aren’t there in the flesh, we will also, with humility, come as mourners for the space itself,” Harvey continued.
The event will be a night to remember, to celebrate and to release with ritual, music, and communal remembrance. Participants are invited to bring photos, talismans and offerings for the ofrenda (offering), as well as songs, poems or toasts to share in tribute to loved ones who have passed.
Mexican American musicians Maria Puente Flores, Mateo Cano, Víctor Lizabeth, Oviedo Horta Jr. and Andrea from Pulso de Barro, an ensemble rooted in the Veracruz tradition of son jarocho, will be performing.
Translating to “Pulse of the Clay,” their name reflects a deep connection to the earth and to the living heartbeat of culture itself. Through a synthesis of Mexican, Cuban, Venezuelan and Puerto Rican traditions, Pulso de Barro merges poetry, rhythm and communal song as pathways to coexistence with nature. Their performances feature the jarana and leona (stringed instruments), quijada, cajón, maracas, and marimba (percussion), the tarima (percussive dance platform) and a call-and-response of folk and original versadas.
The evening begins at 6 p.m. in the Barn Space with a Fandango de los Muertos featuring Pulso de Barro, a Race Brook favorite. At 8 p.m., the Open Mic for the Dead invites guests to speak directly into the spirit world — through word, music or memory. The night culminates at 10:30 p.m. with a Fandango for the Dead, a participatory music and dance celebration. Bring your instruments, your voices and your dancing shoes.
Race Brook Lodge is a unique rustic getaway destination for relaxation, hiking, live music, workshops, weddings and more. Sadly, it will be closing for good later in 2026, ending a storied chapter of Berkshire music, art, culture and well-being.
Come experience an evening that honors lost loved ones and the end of a Berkshire institution. The cycle of life endures. Surely, resurrection is in the cards for Race Brook Lodge.
For Tickets and info, visit: rblodge.com