Christmas in October

After 24 years, Vito Serrao could probably pick out a holiday tree for South Coast Plaza blindfolded. The owner of Vito’s Custom Christmas Trees has journeyed to Mt. Shasta for a quarter of a century to find just the right white fir to install in Town Center Park.

On Wednesday, this year’s tree made its journey to Costa Mesa on a long, flat trailer, and timber crews prepared to hoist it up for the holiday season.

Scattered around Town Center Park were an assortment of loose branches — many of them cut from surrounding firs on Mt. Shasta — which the crew intended to fit on the 96-foot tree for padding. On Nov. 27, South Coast Plaza plans to hold its annual tree-lighting ceremony.