Jill Paurus brings her experience as a pageant contestant and judge to photography. (Steve Browne/VCTR) 

By Steve Browne
Valley City Times-Record

Miss North Dakota USA Stephanie Tollefson came to Valley City this week for a photo shoot inside the President’s House at Valley City State University.
    Jill Paurus, owner of new Valley City business Paurus Design, chose the location for the photos that will be featured in the pageant book at the Miss USA pageant in Las Vegas. Paurus is a former pageant contestant and frequent pageant judge. She first saw the President’s House at a VCSU function and marked it as a photo site due to its period decor and antique furnishings. 

Stephanie Tollefson, Miss North Dakota USA, will compete for the title of Miss USA in Las Vegas. (Steve Browne/VCTR)

    Paurus Design specializes in high fashion photography. Paurus said she established the firm in Valley City after her husband came to teach at VCSU and she intends to make Valley City the to-go place for fashion photography in North Dakota. She explained that photography has become a highly specialized business, which is why four studios can coexist within a few blocks of each other downtown.
    The pageant book photos are very important for contestants, according to Paurus.
    “As a judge, if I see a really
good set of photos I make it a point to look the contestant over closely,” Paurus said during Wednesday’s shoot.    Pageant contestant Tollefson grew up on a farm north of New Rockford and is a junior at the University of Mary in Bismarck, where she majors in  biology and pre-med and works as an operating room tech at Medicenter One. She said she hopes to become a pediatrician and oncologist.
    Tollefson has been competing in pageants since she was 15 and was crowned Miss Dakota USA 2008 last December. She will go on to compete in the Miss USA pageant representing the state. If she wins, she will be the first Miss North Dakota USA to become Miss USA and will represent the United States in the Miss Universe pageant.