A Churchill resident is still star-struck after meeting Major League Baseball pitcher Justin Verlander and his supermodel wife Kate Upton, who visited the northern Manitoba city last weekend.

Joe Stover told CBC Radio Noon on Monday that he ran into the couple a few times on the weekend and got a picture with the MLB all-star at a local bar.

"I'm still on a bit of a high from it," Stover said, adding that he is a huge fan of the Detroit Tigers, Verlander's former team.

"I watched him pitch for many years, so just to have somebody of his stature here in my hometown is super, super cool."

The couple was in the area for the grand opening of the Polar Bears International House, a brand new education centre and facility to accommodate visiting researchers.

Upton, an ambassador and spokesperson for the non-profit dedicated to polar bears, was one of the special guests to the grand opening, so her husband tagged along.

The visit to Churchill came days after Verlander and the Houston Astros lost Game 7 of the World Series to the Washington Nationals.

Kate Upton joined a celebration for the grand opening of the Polar Bears International House, which included an excursion on a Tundra Buggy to view polar bears in the wild and learn more about the non-profit's conservation efforts. (Daniel J. Cox/Natural Exposures)

Churchill no stranger to celebrities

Verlander and Upton, who left early Monday morning, are just the latest high-profile celebrities to visit the community nearly 1,000 kilometres north of Winnipeg.

Do-it-yourself wiz Martha Stewart, actors Josh Duhamel, Dan Aykroyd and Rob Reiner, and singer Kenny Loggins are just some of the celebrities Stover said have made appearances in northern Manitoba.

"It just seems every year, it's a different famous person from a different walk of life," he said.

"It's kind of neat... you just never know who you're going to see up here."

Stover said he isn't surprised by the celebrities that come by, citing that it's the most accessible place to see polar bears. He added, however, that the stars who have visited have raised the profile of the community.

"In the age of social media ... people kind of follow their celebrities around, and if they see that they're in Churchill, they'll probably want to know more about Churchill and why they're there."