The Hooffs are an active and adventurous family. They travel to locations like Colombia and Mustique Island and often hike Stone Mountain on Sunday mornings. They enjoy family pickleball games at Capital City Club and frequently play soccer or baseball in their front yard. Gene likes to cook and try new recipes; Vietnamese vermicelli spring wraps with peanut sauce are a favorite.

 

Gene and Megan moved into the neighborhood in 2013, a year after marrying. They live on Club Circle with their sons Lassiter (age 9) and Griffith (age 7), 11-year-old soft-coated Wheaten Terrier Spoons, and au pair Albert Astorga.

 

“Club Forest is a unique enclave of Historic Brookhaven,” says Gene who has served as captain of the Krewe du Foret for the past two years. “It is a vibrant community of families that take genuine interest in having a neighborhood feel, which is a fleeting tradition in Atlanta.” The Krewe has been hosting a Mardi Gras parade throughout Club Forest for the past 11 years.

 

Gene has also been a member of the Historic Brookhaven Neighborhood Association (HBNA) board for almost 10 years and serves as chair of the Film Committee. Historic Brookhaven was the setting for several movies and television shows including Hall Pass, Life as We Know It, Survivor’s Remorse, The Darkest Minds, and The Resident, to name a few.

 

Prior to 2017 when HBNA’s film committee was formed, there were no neighborhood film guidelines. Neighbors were mostly aware of upcoming filming but duration, traffic patterns, and other issues weren’t always well communicated and sometimes created issues.

 

The HBNA board tasked a committee with developing guidelines for neighbors and film companies. “My goal as filming committee chair is to encourage filming activity in our neighborhood,” says Gene. “I don’t promote it or seek it out. My focus when there is a filming opportunity is to be as communicative as possible so neighbors at large are not taken by surprise by anything that might affect them even a small amount.”

 

The guidelines address issues such as scheduling, traffic, and filming hours, and also ask for a donation to the neighborhood. All donations go toward Historic Brookhaven beautification.

 

The most recent activity was in June when a movie scouting director expressed interest in Club Commons as a possible film site. “We announced it so neighbors wouldn’t be concerned about someone taking photos,” Gene said. “We made it so there would be no incident or discouragement about what was going on.”

 

Despite his involvement with the film industry on Historic Brookhaven’s behalf, Gene’s profession has nothing to do with it. He is partner and owner of Assurtrak Insurance Brokers, LLC and Megan is senior vice president of national, strategic and retail accounts at Republic National Distributing Company, a large family-owned alcohol distributorship.

 

Gene, who grew up in Atlanta, has a Bachelor of Art in history from the University of Virginia (UVA). Megan grew up in Savannah and has a bachelor’s degree in communication and public relations from the University of Alabama.

 

Megan is a strong Crimson Tide fan, especially during football season. Since UVA is not a football powerhouse, Gene long ago adopted the University of Georgia Bulldogs as his surrogate team. After marrying Megan, he didn’t switch alliances and continued rooting for the Dogs “but I do it a bit more quietly with a ‘Bama fan in the house,” he says.

 

College football played a role in Gene and Megan’s romance. The two first met through mutual friends about 15 years ago. Gene was smitten, but in order to see Megan again he had to concoct a plan that would bring their mutual friends together over college football.

 

They dated for two and a half years. “Megan was losing hope after we went on a trip with her parents to Belize,” Gene says. “She was expecting I would propose there, but I thought it was a bit too obvious.” Instead, he waited two weeks and surprised Megan at her condo. “Her best friend helped to get her out of the house for a girls day so I could prepare the surprise engagement,” he notes. They married in 2012 in Sea Island at a small ceremony with immediate family, grandmothers, and the friend who assisted with the engagement.

 

On weekends, the Hooffs like trying new things and spending time together as a family. Recently, that’s meant climbing Stone Mountain on Sunday mornings. Gene says Megan and Lassiter hold the family record for reaching the summit in 25 minutes.

 

They also golf, swim, play pickleball, and bowl (Painted Pin and Painted Duck lanes are their favorites) as a family. If they aren’t involved in an outdoor activity when home, the family likes to play board games such as Uno, Monopoly, Backgammon, and Rummikub.

 

While not a family activity, Gene enjoys cooking for them. “I find it very cathartic and enjoy trying new recipes,” he says.

 

As a boy, Gene cooked with his mom, who told him a man should have between seven and 10 meals he can cook to make him standout as a person. It took a bit, but Gene adopted his mom’s advice and now has a variety of dishes in his repertoire. These include spaghetti and meatballs from scratch, fried chicken or burgers with homemade French fries, Vietnamese vermicelli spring wraps with peanut sauce, Chinese ginger chicken, and Greek salad.

 

Lassiter and Griffith aren’t kitchen regulars, yet. They are active, energetic boys who play baseball at the Northside Youth Organization (NYO), soccer at Concorde, and basketball at Peachtree Road United Methodist Church. During the summer months, they attend different camps, including Camp Rockmont for Boys in Black Mountain, North Carolina, and Frog Hollow, Josh Powell, and Peachtree Gym in Atlanta.

 

The boys have built a great relationship with their 20-year-old au pair Albert, who is from Barcelona and joined the Hooffs in January. “Oftentimes, you will see him and the boys outside playing games,” Gene says. “He’s been our camp counselor.”

 

SIDEBAR TO FAMILY SPOTLIGHT STORY

HEAD = The Hooffs’ Favorite Things

 

Vacation Spots: Gene’s family home on Sea Island and Megan’s condo outside of Clayton; Savannah, Megan’s hometown; international destinations such as Colombia and Mustique Island in the Grenadines

 

Sports Teams: Braves, Falcons, and Hawks; University of Alabama’s Crimson Tide for Megan and Lassiter; University of Georgia Bulldogs for Gene and Griffith

 

Music: all types, although Megan and Gene play Oldies for the boys so they can show off their bumbling swing-dancing skills

 

Movies: ‘90’s kid movies including The Sandlot, The Parent Trap, Little Giants; during the Christmas season, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

Restaurants: Superica, Avellino’s, Bangkok Thyme, and Souper Jenny; trying unique cuisines on Buford Highway