Santa Claus came and left a mess. But if you live in Hall County you’ll likely have to wait until Friday to get rid of it.

Hall County’s compactor sites and Gainesville’s solid waste crews are taking the day off.

Compactor sites will reopen again at 7 a.m. Friday, and Brent Wine, operations supervisor of Hall County’s Solid Waste department, said he is expecting a surge of residents ready to get rid of the shreds of paper that once served as carefully crafted gifts.

"The problem is we’ve got a lot of people that can’t wait to dump their trash," Wine said. "They come in so fast that our compactors can’t keep packing (the trash)."

For that reason, Wine’s called in for reinforcements and the county’s road maintenance crews will be on hand with dump trucks to keep traffic moving at some of the county’s busiest compactor sites Friday.

The Christmas and New Year’s holidays will delay recycling pick-up for Gainesville residents. Thursday’s recycling will be picked up on Friday and Friday’s recycling will be picked up on Saturday, according to a news release from the city.

Gainesville residents who normally have their garbage picked up on Thursday will have to wait until Monday to get rid of holiday refuse if they expect someone to come and get it, said Patsy Shubert, administrative assistant for the city’s solid waste division.

City residents expecting trash pick-up on Friday will have no change in their garbage schedule, however.