After the big U.S. Bank Fireworks Show, it's time to clean up! Crews hard at work Friday morning

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- As the thousands of people left Veterans Park after the U.S. Bank Fireworks Show, cleanup crews were just getting started.

More than a dozen Milwaukee County Parks employees spent their Fourth of July morning at Veterans Park.

“It`s the same every year, and we`ve been doing it for a long time,” said Sue Forlenza, Deputy Regional Operations Manager. “It takes a lot of planning and coordinating to get everything together, from borrowing some trucks and getting staff on board and sort of reaching out to other departments to try and get some help.”

Their day started at midnight, as the fireworks crowds were just leaving.

“That’s probably the most challenging part is to get in here around the crowds showing up, and they`re leaving as we`re showing up,” said Forlenza.

The first phase involved about five garbage trucks making the rounds, collecting the garbage from the trash cans.

The next step was even more tedious -- people went around picking up each piece of litter -- one piece at a time.

Over a dozen Parks employees and Highway Department employees spent their morning tackling section by section of the park by hand.

It was a lot of work, but officials say it went relatively quickly and the crowds themselves could partially be to thank for that.

“People are getting better at picking up after themselves. They`re bagging it more. I just think in general, over the years I`ve been doing it, it`s gotten better,” said Forlenza.