Crocs-wearing Geraldton Mayor Shane Van Styn proposes to girlfriend Jazzlyn Leonard at Batavia Brewing Co

On a warm summer’s day at the city’s new brewery, Mayor Shane Van Styn — backed up by some liquid courage — pretended to slip and fall on his knee next to some kegs, but pulled out a ring and proposed instead. The mayor’s girlfriend, now fiancee, Jazzlyn Leonard was spending time with her mother, Brenda Leonard, who was visiting from New Zealand, on Saturday. The mother and daughter planned to visit the museum but due to the hot weather and Ms Leonard’s mother feeling tired, they decided to have lunch at Batavia Brewing. To no surprise, Mr Van Styn was in his most comfortable pair of crocs and had already mapped out the brewery, so he had the perfect plan of attack. “I knew that there was a set of stairs up the up to the brew tanks that I needed as a result of recent knee surgery because I couldn’t kneel,” he said. The ladies stood next to the fermenters to get a photo when Mr Van Styn abruptly asked for a photo alone with Ms Leonard when he made his way to his knee and asked her to marry him, pulling out an 18ct gold banded ring embedded with a 1.42ct argyle champagne diamond on a 18ct white gold claw set wrapped in a halo of 22 diamonds. Mr Van Styn said he was excited about the future and could see marriage and children within the next few years. “Jaz is a wonderful person loved by everyone that she meets and is just a beautiful human that I’d like to spend the rest of my life with and now we have to think about the pitter-patter of tiny feet going forward,” he said. Ms Leonard said in the lead-up to the proposal, people noticed Mr Van Styn wasn’t “as chatty” as usual and once he proposed her mother burst into tears with happiness. Ms Leonard said when Mr Van Styn met her parents in New Zealand last year, he made claims “I think she’s the one”. “I’m feeling very lucky, lucky to wake up next to someone who respects me and I respect them,” she said.