St. John’s parade participants pose proudly after being awarded the “Most Unique” prize in Hingham’s 2025 Fourth of July parade. The crew won the same award in 2024.
As Hingham’s Fourth of July parade rolled down Main St. Friday under gorgeous blue skies, the St. John’s float was a crowd favorite, with Goofy entertaining paradegoers with his rendition of “Monster Mash,” reenacted by “Frankie” and backed by singers from the St. John’s Choristers. The float also wowed the judges, who awarded it the title “Most Unique” for the second year in a row. The float promoted the Not-So-Spooky Haunted House.
All along the route, kids and adults called out to Goofy (played by Graeme Baker). Dancing and DJing for more than an hour, Baker kept his cool with a self-altered costume that piped air conditioning directly into his stuffy outfit. Patrick Burns really committed to his role as Frankie, sporting some real stitches to go with the realistic neck bolts and scars of his costume. Hadley Dwyer, Daphne Ginn, Lou and Gracie Murphy, and Madeline Potts provided the backing vocals.
Many thanks go to Michael Seggev, who pulled the float behind his electric pickup truck through thick crowds of candy-crazed children along the route. Thank you also to the several wheel walkers, banner carriers, and candy passer-outers who helped make the float a success.
Special shout-outs go to Henry McLane, who spent several hours Wednesday and Thursday helping to construct the float, and Karen Slodden, who created a beautiful banner for the back of the float.
Most thanks, though, go to Dan Fickes, who was the brains, brawn, and champion for this effort.
As successful as the float was, it also featured behind-the-scenes drama. After Dan and his assistants had put dozens of man-hours into putting the float together under blue skies beside the church, a sudden thunderstorm on Thursday evening nearly ruined the whole thing. Clouds rolled in while the singers were practicing their parts. Cutting the rehearsal short, Dan quickly put together a plan to save the float from disaster. As the rain began to fall, Michael Seggev interrupted his dinner to pull the float to the covered parking area of the West Hingham MBTA station. There, with help from Margaret Curtis, they removed or covered the most sensitive parts and rode out the storm. After the rain had passed, Michael returned to pull the float to its staging location near Hingham High School, ready for the parade.
Goofy, Frankie and friends perform for the judges at the 2025 Hingham Fourth of July parade aboard the St. John’s float.