Jim McClelland, a professor of history and the dean of liberal arts at the Alexandria Campus of Northern Virginia Community College, will keynote the Friendship Veterans Fire Engine Association’s 245th annual meeting and breakfast Feb. 18 to kick off the city’s George Washington Birthday celebration of events.

McClellan is the author of the two-volume American history text “Historical Moments: Changing Interpretations of America's Past” as well as numerous journal articles. His presentation will be “Tragedy on the Potomac,” the story of a day in the history of Alexandria that began with “great joy and ended in a disaster that traumatized the nation and altered the course of American history.”

McClellan is the recipient of The University of Texas at Arlington’s 1997 Distinguished Alumni award, described by the school as “the highest honor the university can bestow on one of its graduates.” He has graduate degrees from the University of Texas at Arlington, George Washington University and Union Institute and University at The Institute for Policy Studies. In 2012 he was named a Living Legend of Alexandria.

The Friendship Firehouse breakfast is the traditional kick off to the city’s George Washington Birthday celebration of events that includes a wreath laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary Soldier at 11 a.m. and the signing of the Armed Forces Community Covenant with the Commandants of Fort Belvoir and Quantico at noon. The parade through Old Town begins at 1 p.m. New this year is the Hunt for Washington treasure hunt.

The Friendship Firehouse breakfast will take place Feb. 18 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 901 N. Fairfax St., at 8:30 a.m. Tickets are $40 and include a three course meal and the presentation of the Reverend Ben Lynt Distinguished Community Service Award. For tickets or more information, contact Bill Kehoe at kehoeFD@aol.com or 703-751-6416.