SAUGATUCK, Mich. – A veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder is taking a literal stand to get what he feel he’s owed.
If you’ve driven on the Blue Star Memorial Highway in Saugatuck on any of the past few weekends, you’ve probably seen Willy Olund flanked by his wife and several supporters, picket signs in hand. The group has been coming out every Saturday and Sunday a few hundred feet away from Spectator’s Bar and Grill. Olund feels the business owes him nearly $12,000 for electrical work he did back in 2007.
Olund had to stop the work due to constant flare ups in his PTSD and several deaths in the family, which meant reminders on the payment fell by the wayside.
“I’m angry because I thought they were our friends, and I thought there was some trust there,” Olund said.
The owners of Spectator’s,long-time friends of Olund and his wife Carla, told us they have their reasons for withholding payment. According Michigan’s statutes of limitations, payment by a business is voided after six years if they haven't received a bill. Spectator’s claims they never got a bill, and since Olund‘s company closed up shop in 2010, they couldn’t pay Olund directly for the work.
Olund tells us he did electrical work for the bar as late as 2010, which would fall within the time limit proscribed in the statute of limitations. But owners of Spectators say Olund only did work for them in 2007, and they never got a bill.
Olund and Carla claim otherwise.
“I just want them to know they need to pay the bill,” said Olund. “This is all causing more psychological strain on me and on my family, and it’s got to end. And I’ll be here until Jesus comes back if I have to.”
