Bill and Hillary Clinton Make First Public Appearance Together Since Campaign Launch

— -- Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton took a short break from the campaign trail today to participate in her favorite Memorial Day tradition: The annual New Castle Memorial Day Parade in Chappaqua, New York.

Clinton, who loves the parade (like “really, really, really” loves it), was joined this year by her husband, Bill Clinton -- marking their first public appearance together since the announcement of her presidential campaign.

The two arrived in Clinton’s famous Scooby van just before 11 a.m., when the parade was scheduled to start, and were instantly swarmed by crowds of locals, young and old, clamoring for a moment with their town’s most famous couple.

“Hi! Oh, hi! Hi! So good to see you! Mwah!” Clinton called out as one after the next, she greeted friends and neighbors.

The crowds were eventually asked to step aside so the Clintons could take their position at the front of the parade, where they walked alongside friends and other local elected officials.

“It's a wonderful tradition,” Clinton said as she began walking. “Obviously it happens in towns and cities across our country but it's a good way to remember our veterans particularly those who gave their lives or were grievously injured, and we just need to, you know, make sure that it continues from year to year, generation to generation."

Hillary Clinton has attended the parade nearly every single year since she and Bill Clinton moved into the town, about an hour north of New York City, in 1999 -- and it’s something she does not like to miss no matter what.

"I put this on my calendar every year, and I basically tell my staff I really, really, really want to do this," the then-secretary of state told the New York Times on Memorial Day in 2012. "So unless there's some crisis of significant proportions, I'll be here, and I've had a few crises where I've had to take phone calls as I've marched."

This year, Clinton was greeted by crowds cheering their support for 2016, some even wearing t-shirts reading: “It Takes a Village: Chappaqua for Hillary.”

But when asked by a reporter about the signs of support along the parade route, Clinton didn’t engage.

“This parade is not about that,” she said.