About US

M. Tray Dunaway, MD, FACS, CSP. (2020)

tray@sc1780.org

Tray Dunaway, a retired board-certified general surgeon and  professional speaker, the first surgeon ever to be awarded the Certified Speaking Professional designation by the National Speakers Association. His downtown residence is the oldest home in Camden, (c. 1780’s), and was first owned by Col. John Chesnut when he hosted President George Washington’s reception in Camden in 1791 on Washington’s tour of Southern States. Dunaway was a board member of the Historic Camden Foundation for over 10 years and served as its Board Chair for 7 years. During his tenure as board chairman, he lead the initiative to restore an abandoned 18th C. building which was interpreted as McCaa’s Tavern on the downtown campus of Historic Camden. He initiated, with the financial support of the City of Camden, a strategic development plan for Historic Camden, secured the acquisition of the 476 acre 1780 Revolutionary War Battlefield for Historic Camden. As a volunteer he served as the founding Natural Resources Director of the Camden Battlefield and Longleaf Pine Preserve where he created the Battlefield Preserve as a self-sustaining entity. He performs an interpretation of an 18th C. physician, an interpreter of the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights, and is a Sergeant and trainer for the Revolutionary War Field Days Cannon Crew as well as a Camden Battlefield certified tour guide. 

Tom Oblak (2020)

tom@sc1780.org

 Thomas (Tom) Oblak is originally from Sherman Oaks California and was born in July 1957. He is retired from the United State Army and IBM. He served a total of 25 years, 16 years as an infantryman and Infantry Officer, and another nine years in the Army Acquisition Corps doing Research and Development. At IBM, he worked for 15 years as a Project/Program Manager for Contract Management Services and as a consultant with the largest IBM Accounts conducting improvement programs and business analysis. Retiring completely in 2015, he moved to Camden SC. With his interest in military history, he found his way to become a volunteer at Historic Camden. In 2017, he organized and got funding to restore the four period cannons at the site. He volunteers and is certified as a tour guide for the Historic Site and the Battleground. In his first year of volunteering, he was recognized as Historic Camdens volunteer of the year. Since 2017, he has been the lead event planner (non paid) for the annual Revolutionary War Days held on the site. He has also planned other events. In 2019, he organized and led volunteers to contribute over 1300 hours to restore the Historic Sites Redoubt (earthen fort) to a more historically accurate depiction. He also organized clean up days at the site and the cleaning of the buildings. Tom also got involved with the SC Battleground Preservation Trust’s loan of four period cannons. He became the “Gun Captain”, or responsible agent, to organize and lead the cannons for supporting events that entertain and educate on the Revolutionary War. He has travelled the state in support of historic and educational events. In the three years, his cannons and the 27 volunteers he’s recruited, have attended close to 90 events. The SC Battleground Preservation Trust and the 250th Anniversary commission will use Tom and his demonstration team to be the sites and sounds for marketing the Liberty Trail and the 250th. He also volunteers in the community with the Boy Scouts of American on the District Staff, and was their 2018 Volunteer of the year in Kershaw County, The American Legion, and had been the Logistic Coordinator for the large Irish Fest event held in Camden for the last two years.