The visit captured another challenging transition for a woman who has been through many of them. A month ago, she was a presidential candidate, discussing her plans for ending the war in Iraq and establishing universal health care. On Wednesday she was promising the apple, strawberry and peach growers that she would fight for federal aid to cover the losses from the damaged crops.

Phil Wagner, a cherry and apple grower  and a Republican  who sent the message to Mrs. Clinton said that the moment was bittersweet.

“I told her, ‘I’m sorry you lost your presidential campaign, but I missed my senator,’ ” Mr. Wagner said. “It’s saddening, because I was looking forward to our first female president. Us guys have mucked it up for a pretty long time. But I’m glad we have her back.”

It seemed fitting that Mrs. Clinton’s first swing through her home state after she ended her campaign on June 7 would be upstate, in a region that unexpectedly connected with her in 1999 when she was a first lady who was considering asking New Yorkers to send her to the Senate.

Her visit stirred much interest throughout the village of Newark, in southern Arcadia, a town 36 miles southeast of Rochester. Mr. Wagner spent much of the morning shooing away residents from the meeting.