Mondawmin Mall Santa brings 39 years of ‘love, joy and lots of smiles’ to young and old

He brightens the malls each December, a beacon in red for kids of all ages.

Youngsters approach with their wish lists, from skateboards to cellphones, while adults who queue up share their wants in a weightier chat, said Luke Durant, the bewhiskered Santa Claus at Mondawmin Mall in West Baltimore.

“My customer base is not just children,” said Durant, 75, who has played St. Nick for more than four decades. “You’d be surprised how many [grown-ups] come to see Santa. Kids ask for toys, but adults may have personal problems they want to get off their chests. They need to talk to someone who’ll make them feel better about themselves, and who better for that than Santa Claus?”

For the stressed, Durant listens attentively, strokes his bona fide beard and offers saintly advice.

“When things in your life seem a mess, always remember that it’s only a test,” he’ll say. “Put your trust in God.”

For 39 years, during the month before Christmas, “Santa Luke” has disbursed hugs, high-fives and hope at Mondawmin, Baltimore’s oldest mall. Before that, he held court at The Mall in Columbia for several years as that venue’s first Black Santa. Each holiday season, Durant works up to 11 hours a day and sits some 35,000 visitors on his knee, from 2-week-old infants to nonagenarians.

Most are kids, like 3-year-old Dem’ee Mallory, of East Baltimore, who approached Santa Luke one recent afternoon.

“How you doing?” Santa said.

“I want a doll baby,” Dem’ee whispered shyly.

Santa peered over his granny glasses at her mother, who nodded in assent. Santa Luke doesn’t make empty promises.

“Well, you listen to your mommy and daddy, and be the best you can be, and you’re gonna get that doll baby,” he said. “Just leave me some chocolate chip cookies and milk.”

Through the years, Santa Luke has been a neighborhood icon, said Dave Bass, a management associate at Mondawmin. That Santa is Black matters, too.

“He brings love, joy and lots of smiles to the mall,” Bass said. “Many [adults] have known Santa Luke since they were little; now, they bring their kids as a family tradition. And since we’re mainly an African American community, it’s very important to let kids see that it is possible to have a Black Santa.”

Some wishes are painfully heartfelt. One girl asked whether Santa Luke could bring back her mom, who had died of cancer; a 6-year-old pleaded for the return of a parent who’d just been killed. Santa’s response?

“You will see them again, in time,” he said.

On occasion, a child asks for a BB gun. There, Santa Luke draws the line.

Some kids approach in wheelchairs, like Carlos, an 11-year-old from East Baltimore who came several years ago. As a toddler, Carlos had been struck in the head by a stray bullet and almost died. Yet there he was, receiving plaudits from Santa Luke, who gave him more time than most at the front of the line.

“I’m proud of you,” Santa told the boy. “Miracles do happen.”

Durant, who lives in Northwest Baltimore, never set out to play Santa. At Forest Park High and Baltimore Junior College (now Community College of Baltimore City), he wrestled and played lacrosse, punishing opponents with his moves and stickwork.

“Santa played rough,” Durant said. “I’ll come at you with everything I’ve got — on the field, in business and as Santa. I don’t believe in giving up.”

In 1969, Durant, then 22, and his younger brother, Dexter, opened a successful bar and lounge, the Brothers 2, on Liberty Heights Avenue. Thirteen years later, they moved on.

“I don’t drink and I didn’t particularly like selling liquor,” said Durant, who then established a more Santa-like string of candy stores called Somethin’ Good, first at Lafayette Market and then at Harborplace, Penn Station and Mondawmin.

It was at the first location that Durant first wore red, at the behest of his business partner, Tina Imperial-Trainor. Lafayette Market planned a Christmas parade and needed a Santa to lead it.

“Tina wanted me to do it but I said no; it wasn’t my thing,” Durant said. “Then she put on the Santa suit and said she’d do it, so I gave in.”

The crowd raved. Santa Luke’s future was set.

How long will he play the role? “‘Til the day God calls me home.”

What does Santa Luke want for Christmas? “To see the world in a much better state than it’s in.”

There’s a knack to playing Santa, Durant said: “It’s not just going ‘ho ho ho,’ it’s how you carry yourself. I’m an uplifting person; if I didn’t know me and had just met me, I’d definitely like me.

“You need the ability to make people feel better after leaving here. It’s a gift. Some who come [to see Santa] are despondent and in terrible moods, and it’s my job to make them feel good about themselves.

“You need love in your heart for your fellow man. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to treat people right and to say the right words. It’s just common sense.”