Hundreds of Barton County residents watched the solar eclipse together on Monday, as crowds gathered early at the Great Bend Public Library, Barton Community College and the Kansas Wetlands Education Center.The sun was hidden by clouds in the morning, but by the time the partial eclipse was underway here, around 11:30 a.m., those with eclipse-viewing glasses could see a sliver of the sun had been covered by the moon’s shadow.Donna McCormick, who works at BCC, brought her grandchildren Haley, Kylie and Levi to the campus over the lunch hour.“I can see a whole sun! It’s right there,” 7-year-old Levi said, looking through the dark glasses.A steady stream of students stopped by the viewing area where Planetarium Director Tim Folkerts had set up an eclipse projector fashioned from a pair of binoculars. Folkerts was quickly running out of eclipse glasses, and a student asked if they were necessary.“You can certainly damage your eyes, especially if you stare at the sun for any length of time,” Folkerts warned.About 200 people also visited the BCC Planetarium on Sunday for Folkerts’ pre-eclipse program.