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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Vision Quest star meets fans in Riverfront Park

Dressed as wrestler, Tom Flanigan, 38, of Spokane, show a little muscle as he poses for a picture with movie and TV actor, Matthew Modine, 52, during a flash mob gathering, Jan. 27, 2012 at the north end of Riverfront Park in Spokane, Wash. Dozens gathered in the park to participate in a "run the bridges just like Loudon Swain," the character Modine played in 1985's "Vision Quest." (Dan Pelle)
Matthew Modine is in Spokane to promote a fundraiser to rebuild two Spokane landmarks. He joined a group of fans in Riverfront Park this morning for a flash mob. In the movie Vision Quest, which was filmed in Spokane in 1985, Modine played the role of Louden Swain, a high school wrestler. After chatting and signing autographs, his fans ran the bridges in the park just as Swain did in the movie. Modine is in town helping raise money for the Milk Bottle and Ferguson’s Cafe, two Spokane landmarks that were badly damaged in a September blaze, and which appeared in the movie. Modine agreed to raffle off $500 to a fan if 250 people showed up to the flash mob. Far less came, but he said he’d do the raffle anyway. Instead, the crowd urged him to donate the money to Fergusons and The Milk Bottle Cafe, and he happily agreed. Terry Davis, the Spokane author who wrote the book Vision Quest, was supposed to join Modine, but is undergoing treatment at a hospital for a serious head injury he suffered after falling off a ladder. He is expected to survive, Modine said.