They were at St Kevins College for the dedication and blessing of the St Dominic statue which had stood in the grounds of Teschemakers, near Kakanui, since 1939.
In January, the Italian marble statue was badly damaged in an attack by vandals at Teschemakers and thought to be beyond repair.
However, retired monumentalist Gordon Anderson restored the statue and last week it was placed on a plinth at its new home at St Kevins.
Fr Wayne Healey dedicated and blessed the statue in its new home on Tuesday, then conducted a St Dominic's Feast Day Mass in St Kevins chapel.
All the college turned out, along with former pupils and teachers of Teschemakers.
Dominican sister Mary Horn said all the pupils and staff who were at Teschemakers bonded with the statue.
Most had their photographs taken with it and then again when they were married at Teschemakers.
Sister Madeleine McAleese, who taught at Teschemakers in the early 1960s, said the statue brought back great memories.
St Kevins principal Brent Russell said the college was thrilled to have the statue.
When Teschemakers closed in 1977, its pupils went to St Thomas in Oamaru, which then merged with St Kevins.
