Soccer’s such a high for this guy, he takes to camping on his roof.

SOCCER STUNT: Manhattan Beach writer Paul Harris has for years been a soccer player, a soccer referee and even a soccer writer.

On the eve of the start of the World Cup competition in Los Angeles and several other U.S. cities, he was alarmed at the apathy people had about the games.

So last Friday, he took a bold step: onto the roof of his home. He vows to stay there as long as the U.S. team remains in the tourney.

As of Wednesday, he was still there, camped out on a specially designed perch. He has with him a TV set, sleeping bag, writing desk and extra clothes.

“A lot of Americans don’t understand the passion of the game,” said Harris, 59. “So you have got to do something that people cannot ignore. I had to isolate myself fully in the World Cup.”

While the games are played, Harris covers himself with a blanket and watches the TV set so he’s not bothered. At other times, he sleeps on the perch, writes about soccer and eats his meals.

This “World Cup Nest,” as he calls it, has caught the attention of passersby, and cars have slowed down to honk in support of his stunt. His wife painted a sign on the garage: “USA All the Way.”

The neighbors on the 800 block of 9th Street were at first a bit curious about Harris’ camp-out but have gotten used to it, he said.

“I don’t make any noise,” he said. “I’m also the Neighborhood Watch captain. I can see everything from up here.”

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A BENEFACTOR’S BARBECUE: For the past three years, Torrance restaurateur Alfredo Garnica has funded the cost of reading tutors at Towne Elementary School in Carson.

Recently, the students got a taste of their benefactor’s business. Garnica threw a barbecue at Victoria Park in Carson for more than 700 of the school’s children, who feasted on hamburgers, hot dogs and ice cream. He has held the barbecues since he first adopted the school in 1991.

“I started talking to the principal, and she told me how poor the kids were, two and three families to a house, wearing the same clothes, never having enough food,” said Garnica, 38. “I didn’t believe it at first.”

At the first barbecue, he was most struck by the youngsters’ voracious appetites.

“They went back for seconds and thirds, and they were putting food in their pockets. I asked them, ‘What are you going to do with that?’ And they said, ‘We’re going to take it for dinner.’ That’s when I realized it was real.”

Garnica knows what sort of life many of these children lead: He grew up poor in Gardena. “I know what it’s like to eat nothing but beans and tortillas and Kool-Aid,” he said. “I never knew what dessert was; I never tasted cheesecake or prime rib until the ‘80s.”

After high school, Garnica got a job working for a restaurant and rose from stock clerk to manager in two years. Combining savings and loans, Garnica bought a country-Western bar in Hawthorne and eventually turned it into the California Bar and Grill, a bar and restaurant serving burgers, sandwiches and salads. He opened a second location in Carson.

“He gives everything he has to the kids,” said Donna Haupt, one of Garnica’s restaurant managers.

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SIGNS OUT OF TIME: With the California primary over, candidates have to clean up their mess.

Many South Bay cities have ordinances that require candidates to take down all the colorful campaign signs that have adorned local street corners and strip malls for several months.

So far, some candidates have been slow to follow the law.

On a five-mile stretch of Sepulveda Boulevard in Torrance, primary losers Ron Florance, David Bohline and William Dannemeyer all had campaign signs up the day after a city-imposed two-week deadline for their removal.

Florance, who lost in the 36th Congressional District, had more than 15 signs along that stretch.

“It certainly is a blight on the city,” said Monte McElroy, environmental quality administrator for Torrance. But sign rules vary. Carson and Lawndale, for example, allow a 30-day grace period for removing signs.

So who’s to blame? The candidate has to find out the rules for each city, McElroy said.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I was 6 years old when I discovered I wanted to become a firefighter. My mother and I were watching Dad fight a fire, and when my mother wasn’t looking, I snuck away and climbed up one of the ladders and got on the roof. One of the firemen saw me and grabbed me and carried me down, and of course my mother was horrified. But I knew then that that’s what I was going to be.”

--Larry D. Schneider, 66, Los Angeles City Fire Department battalion chief, whose family includes nine firefighters.