Meet The First Family Of Christmas Trees

CBS Evening News: One Salesman Dreamed Big, Now His Family Makes Christmas Its Business

(CBS)  Thirty-thousand people came to celebrate the beginning of the holiday season. But the real star of the show was 100 feet tall and green, CBS News correspondent Sandra Hughes reports.

It was a tree from a family that has made Christmas its business for 56 years.

"There's not many people like us," said Vito Serrao. "I can tell you that."

Serrao and his wife, Diane, opened a little lot selling normal-sized trees in Southern California. Along the way, they had five little elves to help.

"Vicki, Valerie, Vonnie, Vanessa and of course Victor!" said Diane Serrao.

But Vito, now 75, dreamed big. He bluffed his way into a major amusement park and pre-sold a 60-foot tree. Then, all he had to do was find one.

That took him high up near Mount Shasta in Northern California, where the family still hand-picks every tree.

Some branches have to be moved for transport. Now, the grandchildren help with the heavy lifting. It's grandson Kai's job to plug 50-lb. branches back into the tree.

"Just one branch at a time. Put about 800 branches in here," Kai said. "It's like being an artist. It's like one of my masterpieces when it's all finished."

Daughter Vonnie hangs bulbs - 15,000 on one single tree. And Vanessa hangs hundreds of thousands of lights.

"Yup, I was 13 when I started," she said. "I was so small if I couldn't reach, I would stand up on the bar holding on to the tree for leverage."

And now son Victor is in charge. But if you're born into the Serrao family, you better not be afraid of heights - or you'll miss the great views.

How much does a 100-foot decorated Christmas tree cost? More than $100,000. But even in this economy, the family says business is still strong.

They decorated another 20 trees this season. That's not surprising since the beauties - most in shopping centers - really bring in the crowds.

"When you see those children and they look at the tree, you thought, boy we really did something good," Vito said.

They're still lighting up the spirit of Christmas, year after year.