[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 116 (Tuesday, July 15, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1463]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              A.J. JUDICE

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. TED POE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 15, 2008

  Mr. POE. Madam Speaker, today I come to pay tribute to a long time 
cultural icon in Southeast Texas. A.J. Judice was a proud ambassador of 
his Cajun heritage and used his life to promote and spread their 
culture across the area. His family started Judice's French Market 80 
years ago and introduced Cajun food to the region for the first time. 
Known for his black beret, white moustache, red scooter, and colorful 
personality, Judice was truly a Southeast Texas original.
   Albin Joseph ``A.J'' Judice, Jr. was born in Port Arthur in 1927. He 
graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1945, the same year that 
his beloved Yellow Jackets played for the State championship, he so 
frequently bragged. He spent 2 years as a Merchant Mariner, allowing 
him to see the world. His heart and his future, however, belonged in 
Texas. He married Lois the former senior prom queen in 1948. They had 
two children in one year, eventually having five in all.
   Judice is most recognized as the mascot for the restaurants and 
grocery stores that have been in his family since the 1920's. His 
family opened Judice's French Market in 1927 in their single car garage 
while the family lived above. They moved in the 1930s and settled where 
they still operate today. A.J. and his mother, ``Maw Maw'' Judice, are 
credited as being the first store in Texas to sell live crawfish and 
hot boudain, two staples of any Cajun diet. He was always happy to 
announce that their seafood ``slept in the Gulf last night.'' They also 
own Larry's French Market in Groves. Though he passed the stores on to 
his sons, the caricature of Judice in his apron and beret is still used 
to advertise the store. Thanks to him, ``crawfish season'' is just as 
popular as ``football season'' in Southeast Texas.
   Judice was known as the ``Crazy Frenchman'' and he definitely lived 
up to the branding. He helped popularize the sport of Crawfish racing 
in Southeast Texas, a sport created to celebrate the Cajun lifestyle. 
In the early 1960's, Texas Governor Preston Smith appointed him as a 
Texas Crawfish Racing Commissioner. It was then that he coined his 
famous cheer, ``Hot boudain, and cold cush cush! Come on crawfish, push 
push push!'' A.J. and his crawfish eventually won the world 
championship in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. He was so well known that a 
1980's USA Today article spotlighted Judice and his racing mudbugs. CBS 
news featured him on a cover story after he trained two crawfish to 
jump out of airplanes. From the smallest local festival to the largest 
Mardi Gras festivities around, Judice was always visible, playing his 
triangle ``ding-a-ling'' or dancing to zydeco music. He was full of 
life and lived every second like it was his last.
   Madam Speaker, Mr. A.J. Judice, Jr. was a pioneer in promoting a 
respect of rural Louisiana history and culture. He enhanced his 
community of Southeast Texas for 80 years, and I am proud to celebrate 
his accomplishments and the legacy that he leaves behind.

                          ____________________