Problems Passing String Value To Stored Procedure

Hello, I'm trying to pass a simple string value to a stored procedure and just can't seem to make it work.  I'm baffled since I know how to pass an integer to a stored procedure.  In the example below, I don't get any compile errors or page load errors but my repeater doesn't populate (even though I know for certain the word "hello" is actually in the BlogTxt field in the db.  If I change the stored procedure to say...WHERE BlogTxt LIKE '%hello%'then the results do indeed show up in the repeater.I ultimately would like to pass text from a textbox control or maybe even a querystring to the stored procedure.  Then I'll move on to passing multiple "keywords" to it. :)My relevant code is below.  Thanks in advance for any help.*******************ViewData.ascx.vb file*******************Private strSearch As String

Private Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.LoadTry Dim objBlogController As New BlogController 'for testing purposes  strSearch = "hello" repeaterSearchResults.DataSource = objBlogController.SearchBlog(strSearch) repeaterSearchResults.DataBind()Catch exc As Exception  ProcessModuleLoadException(Me, exc)End TryEnd Sub----------------------------------------

*******************Controller.vb file*******************

Public Function SearchBlog(ByVal strSearch As String) As ArrayList            Return CBO.FillCollection(DataProvider.Instance().SearchBlog(strSearch), GetType(BlogInfo))        End Function----------------------------------------

*******************        DataProvider.vb file*******************

Public MustOverride Function SearchBlog(ByVal strSearch As String) As IDataReader----------------------------------------

*******************SqlDataProvider.vb file*******************

Public Overrides Function SearchBlog(ByVal strSearch As String) As IDataReader            Return CType(SqlHelper.ExecuteReader(ConnectionString, DatabaseOwner & ObjectQualifier & "SearchBlog", strSearch), IDataReader)End Function----------------------------------------

*******************Stored Procedure*******************

CREATE PROCEDURE dbo.SearchBlog @strSearch varchar(8000)AS

SELECT ItemID, PortalID, ModuleID, UserID, BlogTxt, DateAdd, DateModFROM BlogWHERE BlogTxt LIKE '%@strSearch%'GO----------------------------------------